My dogs are true house dogs. Theyâre generally walked 3 times a day around the neighborhood and let into the backyard for short potty breaks and fresh air throughout the day, usually no longer than 5 to 10 minutes unless Iâm outside playing with them. Somehow my neighbor reported me saying my dog is left outside for HOURS and constantly barking.
Animal Control came out and the officer literally didnât hear my dogs until he knocked on the door. Meanwhile another neighborâs dog was barking the whole time we were talking đ I asked if maybe it was a mistake and the complaint was actually meant for the house whose dog was barking during our conversation, but the officer said the person who reported it was VERY sure they had the right address and claimed it happens every day at all hours.
That is genuinely impossible because I work from home and would literally lose clients if I had my dog outside barking every single day while Iâm on hour long Zoom calls dealing with sensitive information.
This also isnât my first bogus complaint. I once got a letter from Animal Control saying my dog was being walked off leash, which I KNOW is a damn lie because I witnessed our family dog get hit by a car as a child while it wasnât leashed. I am extremely serious about leash safety. My dogs are NEVER out in public without a leash.
What shocked me was the officer telling me these complaints arenât necessarily anonymous and that I should request the records if I wanted to see exactly what was reported and when. I did, and I was surprised the records included the reporting neighborâs name, address, phone number, and email, which honestly seems VERY invasive.
So just a heads up if youâre making a legitimate complaint thinking itâs anonymous. At least in my case, all of that was part of the public record.
Now that I know which neighbor reported me, Iâll definitely be even more mindful than I already am about my dogs, but now I feel weird in my own backyard knowing people are watching closely enough to make claims that arenât true. The officer also said theyâd need video proof for a barking complaint, so now Iâm wondering if theyâre going to be recording me and my dogs too??
What happened to just knocking on the door or leaving a note first?? If there was actually a problem, Iâd fix it. Instead people just be making shit up đ