I had an interesting phone call from a gentleman from an action group designed to put more accountability on dog owners. Without being said explicitly, the group was overall ‘anti dog’. Though there may be some cultural reasons for this I think, overwhelmingly, this group was formed as the individuals are in some way annoyed by dogs in their lives and feel the need to do something about it.
Though the gentleman and I definitely did not agree on many things, it was at the very least an interesting conversation. Below are some of the parts that I recall the most strongly and I believe could be of the most interest.
Please note that I live in the state of South Australia, and my comments are particularly in regard to my state. I do, however, welcome you to comment on any of your own legislation in your country or state, and how you feel it is working, or not.
The Dog and Cat Management Act does not require owners to be responsible. This is significant. It suggests responsibility, it asks for responsibility, it almost pleas – but it does not require. In this way, negligence is permissible.
I would say this hole is because responsibility is hard to define. The gentleman suggested that adding a clause in the Dog and Cat Management Act that made responsibility enforceable. In his view, a responsibility definition would encapsulate “choosing a dog suitable for your situation” and “managing your dog in such a way that it does not inconvenience others”. Though both are clearly nice ideas, they are as vague as “responsibility” itself.
What most perturbed me was “suitable for your situation”. The gentleman suggested a checklist system which council rangers would use when a complaint came in regarding dogs. Though the gentleman was adamant this would only be used following a complaint, I saw this difficult to legislate. But my most loud objection was: No one should decide what dog is ‘suitable’ for me except for me.
Photos © Ruthless Photos
Nuisance barking is not adequately addressed by councils. Nuisance barking encapsulated much of our discussion. Currently, there is no universal method that councils are required to undertake in regard to problem barking. As such, councils are free to choose individualised methods for responding to issues within their council area.
In most cases, I believe councils in my sate require the complainant to log dog barking for 2 weeks before actioning the complaint with a ranger. The gentleman made a good point – 2 weeks is a long time for a dog to be distressfully barking before the council makes any action. It’s a long time for neighbours to suffer too. It would be nice if there was a mechanism for a more immediate response.
When laws are inadequate, people take matters into their own hands. In the perfect world we wouldn’t have to consider this aspect. However, it’s a fact: When people do not get resolve through the legal channels, they may be motivated to seek their own justice. For barking dogs, this may mean poisoning the dog. I am aware of many people who do have concerns about their dog’s welfare because of neighbour disputes. I can understand why it might be beneficial to have legislation regarding nuisance barking so that these disputes could be resolved in a more reasonable way.
Personally, I think we don’t need anymore legislation. I think we can work with what we’ve got, it just needs to be enforced. Next year, I will be paying $83 for dog registration. That is a lot of money. My council has done great things, such as build a dog park, which is lovely, but I much rather that it be used for more ranger-power. Particularly:
- Dogs wandering at large – I have so far picked up approximately 5 dogs in my council area, wandering at large. Surely this is not my job! I do it because I care, and I’d like someone to do the same for me if my dogs escaped. But really, there shouldn’t be the opportunity for me to catch these dogs wandering at large. There should be enough ranger-power that they are picked up before I find them.
- Dogs barking – Once, I rang the council regarding my barking dogs, and I was advised I should grab my dogs by the scruff when they bark and shake them. Luckily, I am little more savvy than this ranger, but how many people actually take this advice? There needs to be more proactive solutions rather than inefficient, abusive, medieval advice.
- Dogs unregistered – I know dogs in my council area who are not registered. Dogs are not subtle. Dogs are highly visible. The council should be watching and making sure all dogs are registered. It is unfair that I pay sums in registration, while others get by. I want owners of unregistered dogs to be fined.
Most adamantly, I am against new legislation because I know it is responsible people like myself who will be obeying it, and not those irresponsible. New legislation only punishes those who choose to obey. And really, what we have at the moment is adequate. Just the enforcement is lacking.
I enjoyed this peculiar conversation as I actually got the chance to consider dog issues from ‘the other side’.
What do you think? Do you see any loud holes in dog legislation in your area? Is there anything that works really well? I’d love to hear from you.
Legislation always puts my back up. Like you, I feel I am a responsible dog owner. I clean up after her, I make sure she is registered, I only let her off leash in permitted areas, and I take time to train her properly. I know when our local council talks about making new laws, such as shutting down all dog parks or requiring heavy fines for noise violations, it is going to be other people like me that suffer. Those that already ignore the laws will continue to do so.
There have been a few issues in the news lately about loose aggressive dogs attacking others. The definition of an aggressive dog has been bandied about a lot and I worry my fearful dog who has been known to bark as passer’s by will be labeled as such by an irritated citizen. Once a dog has a label there are all sorts of repercussions. Also, my dog has been attacked several times by small dogs in our neighbourhood but because she is bigger, if she tries to defend herself, she is technically an aggressive dog. It is my job to protect her and keep her safe and I think I do my best, but these laws do concern me. Shiva has never once attacked or bitten anyone. But by current legal definitions, a neighbour could decide they don’t like her and report that she barked at them in a threatening manner.
Anyway, I like your solutions better. Instead of further legislation, how about making animal control more accountable? Like you say, where is all the money going?
Thanks for your reply Kristine.
We also have somewhat-concerning laws regarding dangerous dogs, in that dogs can be labelled ‘menacing’ here just due to threatening barking. We also, unfortunately, have BSL where dogs are deemed dangerous simply as a result of their breed.
Luckily, our rangers are so stretched that I don’t know of anyone in my area who has a dangerous dog. I do know a couple of ‘nuisance dogs’ which have been done for barking.
I used to have a dog that was dog-agro and walking him was a nightmare. He was always on lead, yet people would let their unleashed dogs approach him. I think this is the height of rudeness in any situation. I also take Clover out tracking on a long line, we have markers along the way indicating that we are very much ‘doing something’, and people let their dogs approach her still! When I yell at the owner (who is inevitably far away) to “call their dog back”, they seem to think I’M the rude one.
Regardless, these are different issues, but surely the definition of ‘dangerous’ is a bit loose. I work in a dog bite prevention program, working with young children, and I feel we are doing a lot more for dog bite reduction than any dangerous dog legislation yet.
My experience over the last two years with dealing with the council / law regarding a barking dog has been absolutely terrible. I had to put up with a dog not only barking but screaming, crying and whimpering. This happened all when the owners were inside and did nothing to stop it. Like the council says, I approached the neighbours about the problem in a diplomatic manner and all I got from them was the good old fight-flight stupidity response: ‘what dog?, we don’t own a dog’. ‘I dare you to get the authorities involved’.
Anyway, after two more complains with them and getting no were I went to the (Onkaparinga) council. They gave me dog barking diary to fill in. After I spent a lot of time filling in that week, the council then told me, a dog can legally bark 1000 times a day. I only had about 400. Apparently, nuisance barking is a grey area of the law and is highly ‘subjective’. This is absolutely useless. I am a responsible dog owner, who, if my dog(a BT) barks repeatedly (3 or 4 times) outside, goes and gets him in out of respect for the neighbours around me.
Next time the dog started barking again after that I threw a tennis ball at it and directly hit it. I hate animal cruelty, but my nerves were shot and I felt powerless. Of course, the owners came out and started BSing about how they I have hurt their dog. Like they care? Not. They ended up calling the police. The police did drop by. I admitted I was wrong. But I also I told them dog laws are absolutely useless and there is no incentive to be a responsible dog owner. All you need to do is register it, provide food, water, (maybe shelter? – probably not) and let it bark 999 times every day.
What the authorities like the RSPCA actually do? It seems they can’t do anything to improve animal welfare. Do they just destroy unwanted pets? Please tell me I am wrong. The law needs to acknowledge dogs are social animals and should not be left alone and isolated in a back yard by itself in a urban areas. It must also acknowledge the rights of others to have peace and quiet.
Thanks for your reply, Jonathon.
I think incidents, such as you described, illustrate the need for there to be some uniformity in dog barking laws. Additionally, a dog that is barking excessively is not happy. It’s not really enough to feed/water/shelter dogs, they need a lot more than that… But then we cross into dangerous territory of telling people the best way to own their pets.
The RSPCA is a charity that has, unfortunately, been given too much status and power by the government. Personally, I believe it should be up to police to enforce legislation and not charities.
However: There is no legislation about barking dogs, so what are we to do?
Barking! I have a great dog, who barks occasionally. But I live on a street where every second yard has a dog. One in particular barks continuously whenever I’m in my yard or entertaining area. Annoys the heck out of me.