Next door neighbor has a tiny yard and an even smaller house. Apparently she's having trouble paying for the place, so I think she's taken on a couple of boarders. Quite a bit of activity over there in the last month.

Noticed a pup chained to the porch late last week, didn't think anything of it. Then another dog showed up, chained to the other corner of the porch. That dog proceeded to spend all damned night barking at nothing in particular.

Went over to have a chat with them yesterday evening, a little whisper of a girl answered the door (after I knocked for five minutes...idiots looked through the living room window right at me, guess they didn't think I could see them sitting there looking through the window). While I absolutely despise the term, white trash best describes her.

Politely asked her to do something about her dogs as their barking was keeping my wife and I awake. She said that she would try then mumbled some stuff.

I went to work, wife called me about an hour later, you could hear the dog barking over the phone. She told me this morning that after that she didn't hear those dogs barking, but heard the upper neighbor's dogs barking ALL NIGHT (something they never do, but that's another story).

I went out to get the mail this afternoon, didn't see the dogs anywhere. As I was going back into the house, I heard barking from the back yard. Looked out the back door, the dogs were in MY yard.

Went out to have a look, one of them was chained to a stake that was placed in their yard, the other chained to one of my clothesline posts. As I said earlier, that house has almost no yard. Step out their back door, walk 15' and you're in my yard.

I snapped a few photos, then went to have another chat with the idiots. Either they weren't at home or they just didn't want to answer the door. I ended up removing the dog from my post and attaching it's chain to the stake with the other dog.

I did call county animal control afterward. These dogs have been outside all week with no shelter. When they were chained to the porch, they at least kept a little food and water out for them. They didn't have anything for them this evening. No food, no water, no shelter. I hate going that route, but I'm not dragging this out. I keep to myself, try not to disturb my neighbors and expect the same treatment in return.

Anywho, just what is it with $&%^$ and dogs? People can be dirt poor and they'll have 2-3 dogs. It doesn't help any that none of the people living in that crapbox house is older than 26. I'd say that the girl I talked to yesterday was 19 or 20.

Oh well, just wanted to rant...

Burley, if you shot the dog owners, I think you would have a good case for Justifiable Homocide.

you did the right thing calling animal control, and documenting what you saw.

Sad thing is that the dogs are friendly as hell.  Barely kept them from getting me muddy when I moved the chain.

Guess I'll be investing in a fence in a few months.  I'd been trying and trying to put it off (isn't the first time I've had property line issues with occupants of this house, but that's another long story), but this is the final straw.

Well, this and the fact that two of the idiots drove through another neighbor's yard and my yard to get into their minute back yard a couple of weeks ago.  I think they were hiding from someone.   :-/

My wife and I would love to have a dog, but we don't want to subject our neighbors to the barking, etc.  

How nice would the world be if people would just treat others as they would want to be treated?

I pretty much agree with everything said. Especially Burley in that you see people dirt poor with not 1 but 2 dogs. Sometimes they even have a cat. Kinda doesn't make sense when they really need the money for themselves.

That's pretty bad.  I hate animal neglecters and abusers.

Almost as bad are the a.s.s-hats I deal with.  They have pitbulls, rottweilers, akitas, etc.  They usually get them from rescues.  They don't know anything about them.  They bring them home.  And in a short time they chew some kid's face off.  Then they ask me, "are my insurance rates going up?"

Sorry to hear about your woes Burley AND I am very sorry those poor dogs have to be subjected to that kind of owner mistreatment. People like that should be made to suffer the same living conditions as the neglected animals. Most dogs are such loving animals and are usually not responsible for their own misbehavior, like barking all night and stuff like that. Hope the situation doesn't worsen or get totally out of hand for you!!!

If nothing less, stay on them.  Stay on animal control too.  Is the AR oiled and clean? hehe

So glad you called Animal Control.

I agree, stay on Animal Control.

Call your councilman and then follow up with a letter of complaint to him/her.

I hate people who mistreat dogs and Virginia has some laws to protect dogs from being mistreated.

Don't let up!!!!

P.S.

They probably sneaked into the neighborhood from Tennessee.

Do they have a still somewhere, like in their bathroom?

Solution: Put the dogs in the house, chain the people outdoors.

Solution: Put the dogs in the house, chain the people outdoors.

I've dealt my share of idiots with dogs in TX.I don't seem to have the problem up here in the north.  :-?

My mom use to get so sick of dogs coming on the yard that she went to animal control center and they gave her a cage to set out side.The total animals she caught was something like over 200+ cats and 140+ dogs in that cage in a 1 year span..Every time she took em' back to the animal control...they knew my mom by name.The saddest thing they told her she catches more cats and dogs than some of the guys who do this as a job.They wonder why my mom moved out of oak cliff.Just horrible....

Burley, There is a good reason why people say " good fences make good neighbors."

If you would like a dog that would not bark then buy a "barkless" dog. Yes, there is such a breed of dog, the Basenji. I have owned one and they are a great breed and they are barkless!

http://www.basenji.org/

They are also great inside dogs as they do not have the musk gland that gives other dogs that funky smell and they clean themselves just like a cat does. Basenjis do not yap incessantly, but they are not mute. They have a delightful sound some owners describe as a yodel. Basenjis usually come into season only once a year (in the fall).