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Dear LAist,First of all, that's pretty lame that 311 transferred a barking dog complaint to the LAPD. They should have known that Animal Services takes care of that. After all, they are supposed to be mini city experts and clogging down the LAPD lines, even if just non-emergency, is not a good thing.Lordy, lord, lord. Today I called 311 about a issue: a noise complaint about a neighbor's dog that had been barking for 2 straight hours. The 311 lady asked me my zip code than transferred me to the LAPD. The annoyed LAPD operator explained to me that the police didn't handle barking dog noise complaints. I explained that this was where the 311 operator had transferred me. The LAPD operator then transferred me to Animal Control. The Animal Control lady said I would have to write a letter that stated my complaint and mail it to Animal Control. "But that will take days, and that dog is barking now. There's nothing that can be done about this sooner?" She politely explained that I could hand deliver my letter to Animal Control. I politely explained that since I work in downtown, driving out to the West side on a workday is not a possibility. So basically I'm stuck writing a letter, mailing it, waiting for the letter to arrive and then waiting for someone to investigate at which point the dog probably won't be barking. Fanfuckingtastic. Seriously, have these people never heard of the Internet?!
On the plus side, LA's 311 service is working brilliantly, since its purpose is obviously to give residents the run-around and make it as difficult as possible to file a legitimate complaint.
Secondly, the barking dog process, as lame as it is with all that prehistoric snail mail, does work. But you have to play by the rules and if you do, your problem will be solved. In an e-mail conversation earlier this year with Animal Services, Karen Knipscheer told us that "a person must go thru the barking dog process to gain any ground as far as a barking dog concern. It doesn't matter the time of day, it still has to go thru the process. And it is a good process."
Two discussions come out of this: why is there not an online form, an alternative to snail mail and why is the process not immediate?
It's 2007, all forms should be online. However, there could be one possibly good reason: making it too easy report dog barking complaints could send in a flurry complaints that were not really complaints. Online, it's easy to type and send. On paper, you really mean it.
Okay, now to why is it 3 a.m., the dog in the next apartment is barking nonstop, I can't sleep and the police won't respond? It does seem a bit ridiculous. After all, if a person had their radio on extremely loud or they were screaming at the top of their lungs, the police would respond because it is "disturbing the peace," though it is one of the lowest priority calls. Apparently, a barking dog does not violate the "disturbing the peace" law , but only LAMC SEC. 53.63, the barking dog noise law.
Maybe the law should be changed to at least a response. Maybe the dog is barking because your neighbor just collapsed after a heart attack. Maybe there's a robber. Or maybe no one's home, and that's probably the reason the LAPD stopped responding to these calls. When a person is making the noise, at least someone can answer the door. If a dog is barking and no one is home, the police are not going to break into the house to stop it. What do you think the city should do?
Photo by C-Monster via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
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we recently complained about a neighbors dog that was barking for hours. looking over in there yard the poor dog was tied up without food, water, or shade. The poor guy was miserable, it took myself and my neighbor to call multiple times. finally cops showed up only to say they can't do anything...we basically just wanted someone to give it water. luckily after calling animal control as well they came and took the dog as it was in terrible shape. the nice owners went to vegas for the weekend and said they told someone to take care of the dog (obviously didn't do a good job), and we should've minded our own business. Now we get nice stair downs from their family and veiled threats, but at least they aren't torturing a dog anymore.
I went through the whole barking dog complaint process with Animal Control several years ago. At every turn, they tried to discourage me from proceeding, but I persisted. It took about three months as I recall. Finally, they repealed the dog's lisence and the owner (my next door nighbor) was ordered to get rid of it.
Several weeks later, Animal control sent someone to his house . They apparently knocked on the door and when someone answered, they asked if the dog was still there. The answer was "no"...and the guy said okay and left! Just like that! But the dog WAS still there. The guy went out and re-registered it under a new name. I wound up spending a small fortune soundproofing that side of my house, The dog still barks, but It no longer sounds like it's in the same room with me.
It is a totally incompetent agency, indifferent and woefully understaffed. Plus, they're complete assholes (can I say that?)
Zach,
Thanks for posting this thread. While it does not directly involve our agency, it does engender spirited conversation, analysis and hopefully some forward movement within our family of City workers - as the vast majority of us come to work each day hoping to not only meet but exceed the public's expectations.
Parallels can certainly be drawn in the daily experience people have in reporting fire hazards or other concerns to our agency, and I wanted you to know that I am one of many Fire Department employees who seek to learn from any resident's frustrations.
Thanks to you and your loyal readers for offering frank commentary on this great City - including a few things from time to time that we might need to work on.
Please stay safe and be well,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department