By Los Alamos resident/homeowner
The writer of “Please Address Failure to Control or Enforce Nuisance Dog Barking” (here), asked for corroboration.
Based on my experiences, and those of some of my nearer neighbors, I’d posit that the chronic situation they describe is replicated in dozens of locations in Los Alamos County per year.
I’ve lived in the same location in LA for 10 years. I live with three nearby dogs that are only minor nuisances (two of those wake me before sunrise only rarely, one barks at every single passerby, of which there are many day and night, but is located such that I don’t hear it from my bedroom).
Two other dogs, however, have required police intervention. This has entailed the usual months of being woken at 2 a.m. by an incessantly barking dog multiple nights per week, making the decision to get out of bed, getting dressed, phoning police dispatch, possibly or possibly not getting an officer out within an hour; if getting an officer out, the dog possibly or possibly not still barking; if still barking, the owner possibly or possibly not being home; if home, possibly or possibly not answering the door; if answering, then what? Well, the owner is given a warning, the behavior abates for a week or so, then in starts all over again.
What’s the victim to do? The regular, severe loss of sleep is unacceptable — you lose sleep if you don’t do anything, you lose sleep if you do. The only legal way out seems to be a protracted battle, testing the patience of the police and dispatcher.
Will the proposed change to the ordinance improve matters? As others have opined, likely not. The system is broken but the fix seems worse.
For those who might suggest wearing earplugs to bed, that’d not only be uncomfortable (disturbing or precluding sleep) but stupid, not being able to hear one’s smoke alarm, carbon monoxide alarm, doorbell, someone breaking in, or some other mayhem, not to mention one’s alarm clock.
Editor’s Note: The Los Alamos Daily Post is publishing unsigned letters related to dog barking to allow the writers to express their thoughts without developing unpleasant issues with their neighbors.
