A pet owner has been given an ASBO to stop the excessive noise – from her 100 DOGS.
Diana Curtis, 52, received complaints about the constant barking from neighbours living more than a mile away.
She kept dozens of hounds on her land, including many different species, which howled and barked day and night, residents claimed.
Ms Curtis pleaded guilty to noise abatement at North Devon Magistrates Court in May and was given an ASBO and fined £2,000.
She was also ordered to remove the dogs, but police officers and animal welfare workers have now been forced to take them away after she failed to do so.
Police have now overseen the removal of all but six of the animals from her home in Winswell near Torrington in Devon.
Ms Curtis said she has been left ”devastated” and that the noise made by the dogs was exaggerated by neighbours.
She said: ”They are destroying my life by taking my dogs away. People can’t understand why I would want so many dogs but that is up to me – I feed and look after them and they stay on my property.
”The dogs are well behaved and never aggressive and they don’t make as much noise as has been said. I’m devastated.”
Ms Curtis was ordered to get rid of the dogs herself but when she did not comply police were told to remove the animals from the premises.
She said: ”I’ve had these dogs since they were puppies and now most of them are 12 -14 years old.
”I have lived here for 22 years and didn’t have any complaints until a couple of years ago.
”They have been taking my dogs away in batches and I’ve heard that most of them have been put down – the others must be terrified.
”I don’t have much money but I don’t want to live the high life, all I want is my dogs.”
Inspector Andy Lilburn of Devon & Cornwall Police added: ”They are healthy, well-cared for, fed and watered.
”They’ve had limited human contact but they certainly respond to her and she knows them all by name. There is no suggestion of cruelty here whatsoever.”
Ms Curtis is now banned form keeping more than six dogs but she can appeal the decision to remove her dogs if she can raise a further £2,000.
She said: ”I’m going to try and appeal, but most of the dogs will have been destroyed by the time I raise the money.”
BULLSHIT Lady !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have one of the dogs rescued from this so called human being months ago!!!!!!!!!!! ..
Due to her NEGLECT this poor baby and how many others like her are suffering !!!.. I see it every day !!!!!! Vet Verified is” This is One of the Worst Case’s of Hip Displaisa I Have Ever Seen !!!! ” … Infact and I quote “Never Seen Before !!!”(This is Down to Over Breeding & lack of Concern etc.,) Tears on Local News Media …… Bullshit !!!! This person should never ever be aloud to keep any animal whatver it is AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This era dogs are used as passive-aggressive, anti-social weapons: what bullets are to guns, barking is to dogs. Barking kills–a slow, painful death from a million bee stings. Communities should focus on the root cause of the conflict between barking dog and innocent human: the barking is the root cause. It’s the BARKING that’s the source of the conflict. The source of the conflict is not the barking-sufferer’s REACTION to barking, whatever that reaction may be. Chronic barking is molestation. The party at fault is the household with the barker(s). It doesn’t matter what the sufferer-of-barking does to try to get the barking to stop–they feel desperate because they’re not getting support from the outlying community to get the barking stopped. I’m not talking about partial-barking stopped–I mean 100%. The barking-sufferer has a right to enjoy his or her patch of real estate unmolested by barking. The barker needs to get gone.
In a conflict between one person and a dog, the human should win out every time. Human rights trump dog rights. Who is it who pays the mortgage or rent? Not dogs. Why do we as society allow dogs to have more rights than people? Barking is a serious offense: barking makes people–literally–insane. Chronic barking causes the barking-sufferer to not be able to meet his obligations in paying the mortgage or rent and put food on the table. People, obtaining dogs, who like to have their “own petty egos stroked,” are clueless as to what it takes to truly care for a dog. Being the guardian of a dog is a lifelong commitment–it is similar as caring for a human infant–dogs cost money and take time–done properly–lots of both. Leaving dog(s) in a yard unattended and unloved is a hazard to anyone not the owner who is within earshot of the barking. A barker is a menace. A barker is a health hazard. A barker is an “ignored” dog–it’s time we see chronic barking for what it is: ANIMAL NEGLECT. Animal neglect has serious consequences! Things have to be done, by the community, on behalf of the barking-sufferer, in its laws, fines, punishments, jail-time, impounding dog, or seizing dog-owner’s vehicle.
Communities should give power to law enforcement to seize yard barkers without the dog owner’s knowledge, impound the dog(s). Or 6 months in jail. Or a US$1,000 (GBP£700) fine.
Dog-haters are made, not born. Residents become hostile after years of their communities having more sympathy for barkers than for barking-sufferers, communities who spit on human need for peace and quiet where they live. Having dogs growing up, I used to like dogs. No more. Barkers are REALLY, REALLY bad public-relations for canines in general. Barking gives the whole canine species a bad reputation. Responsible dog owners should pressure “arrant dog owners who condone chronic barking” to STOP THE BARKING.
You know, how would you feel if you went to poop in your own toilet, the next-door neighbor’s dog heard you from outside, barked continuously 5 feet from where you’re doing your business? How would you feel if you put a dish in the microwave oven, the other next-door neighbor’s dog heard you from outside, barked continuously 5 feet from where you’re trying to eat a pleasant meal? How would you feel if the phone rings, answer it, the next-door neighbor’s dog heard you from outside, barked continuously 5 feet from where you’re trying to have a conversation where you yell into the phone “I can’t hear you. What’d you say?” How would you feel if the only place you could sleep was on the floor in a closet located on the other side of the house? (This really happened.) And finally, how would you feel if this went on, day and night, for five years? Answer honestly, because you would not have had a good night’s sleep in five years. How would YOU feel?
Dogs have no business around human dwelling areas. Dogs are “guests” and as such, must behave. If dogs don’t behave, banish them. Dog exits off premises permanently. Don’t bother with de-barking.
Mediation implies there is something to mediate, as if with chronic barking there is middle-ground or compromise. Sorry, but I’m not going to compromise my physical need for a safe and sane soundscape around my home. The dog leaves.
Nobody likes “second-hand dog pollution.”
poor lady, even though she wants to tend all 100 dogs but she is incapable of doing so. A neighbor’s barking dog can strain the nerves. If you work from home, or if the dog barks relentlessly through the night, it can make home seem like a place where rest or peace are seldom an option. There is about as much advice on how to quiet a neighbor’s barking dog as there are barking dogs in the world. Since some neighbors may respond hostilely to your suggestion that they quiet their dogs, you may need to approach the situation in a more passive and friendly manner.