By Concerned Citizen

In response to the original letter titled, Please Address Failure to Control or Enforce Nuisance Dog Barking, I too would like to comment on the issue with barking dogs in Los Alamos.

For many months now I have been trying to relieve barking dog issues in my neighborhood. To all who may read this, I understand, dogs bark. That is what they do. They have been historically bred to do so, and to reference one letter, titled “City Dogs, Country Dogs”, it is part of their sentinel network to protect their area. However, this issue is not the protection of a domain, it is being a respectful member of a community.

In fact one of the big draws for me to Los Alamos was the community that exists out here. Where else in the world can so much be offered to residents in a rural area, by well, its residents. For example, the ice rink, the parks, the trails, and only until recently a ski hill, are resident run and resident used. Not to mention just the friendly interactions walking around. And it is facts and examples like these, that I believe, is what defines Los Alamos and keeps it at the top of so many community ranking studies.

This is also why I am so appalled at the response to a community-wide barking dog issue. Particular the response I have received while trying to resolve the nuisance dog barking issues in my neighborhood. In trying to resolve now four different nuisance dog issues that I have, my first action has been – every time – to directly contact the dog owners. To me this is all it should take. Again, I live in a community, and a neighborhood, and I would expect all issues to be handled by a neighborly, adult, conversation. 

However, responding to the letter written my Mr. Marcus titled “Dogs and Anonymity”, that isn’t always the most well received communication. In all four instances, the response to me simply knocking on their door to talk about the dog barking has been aggressive backlash, denial, and absolutely no action. So I ask, the author of “City Dogs, Country Dogs”, and Mr. Marcus, this being said what other actions are there other than enforcing an ordinance, or writing to the local media (anonymously as to protect my family and myself from somebody I immediately judge as irrational based on their response to my neighborly advances)?

Furthermore, to the author of “City Dogs, Country Dogs”, I have lived in a much more “country” area than this, and I will tell you, talking with my neighbors – admittedly not regarding barking dogs – rather other issues (like property lines and considerate firearm discharge), ALWAYS and IMMEDIATELY resolved the issue. Let’s face it, this is not a geographical issue, a population density issue, an ordinance issue, or a sentinel issue, or in response to the letter “We Extend Our Sympathy to Residents Enduring Barking Dogs” that, although I appreciate the letter, this is not a perspective issue either; this is an inconsiderate dog owner issue.

Los Alamos, this is a very special area, and what makes Los Alamos special is not due to ordinances and government, rather community. And as a community we need to preserve not these amenities but this spirit by remaining a community and handling this issue as such, respecting each other, handling it directly and allowing us to face bigger threats to the town than barking dogs. If you want sterile, defined, governed community, move to California… Trust me.

So to me this is very simple;

• Yes, we are all on this mesa.
• Yes, it is pretty rural here, but lets face it we are pretty tightly squeezed onto this limited footprint of real estate.
• Yes, dogs do alert us to intruders, but this is not Medieval Rome, Espanola is not mounting an attack on our castle walls to which we need to be alerted.
• Yes, dogs barking is a nuisance, it keeps people awake, disturbs peace, and is just annoying.
• Yes, an occasional yip is okay, but persistent habitual barking is not.
• Yes, we are all adults lets just be responsible and watch after our families and pets.
• Yes, we are ALL neighbors, lets just handle it as such and listen and respond to neighborly requests, and resolve issues like adults.

For me, I will keep pursuing a resolution to this, hoping it will take nothing more than a neighborly conversation, which I am having on a more widely reaching scale here (cooing an imminent backlash that this letter is not me practicing what I am preaching). And if not I will continue to escalate the issue that, as a community, we have decided to and continue to recognize this is an issue, thus have accordingly developed a path to its resolution in code enforcement.

So for a town that seems so community oriented, that hates disturbances like a closed road to improve below-ground infrastructure, or hates the inconveniences of introducing a very nice new shopping center, or a community that restricts air travel to reduce residential plane noise, and installs sound barriers along the entrance to a minimally populated town, a barking dog should be understood, its resolution supported, and with all aforementioned issues should be a near-nothing issue to resolve.

I also ask, what would this conversation be if the issue were loud music. What about chickens? In fact, the newly proposed ordinance on chickens prohibits roosters, for noise ordinance issues, even in such a rural area.

I propose more than and before anything, we just handle this as community members, respect neighborly requests to try and calm barking dogs, to understand dogs will occasionally bark, to understand we are all here by choice and would like to live together, we are all adults, that this is not personal and just to be considerate. In doing so code enforcement, anonymous letters, etc. won’t be an issue.