City Council to Consider Fees for Barking Dogs

As of now, if a neighbor's barking dog is keeping you up at night, you can complain to Animal Services; the department will likely give the owner a warning and eventually take away pet-owning privileges if the owner continues to not take action. But today the city council is considering hitting the owners of loud dogs with fees of about $100, reports The Daily News. The council also is looking into taking other pet-related complaints and turning them into cold hard cash. Right now, owners are issued a "notice to comply" if their pet is not leashed or is more than 35 feet from their residence. "If all 19,351 Notices to Comply issued in 2008-2009 for barking, cruelty, distance, leash law, and permits were translated to first-time Administrative Citations that were valid and collectible, revenue could be nearly $2 million annually," Animal Services Assistant General Manager Kathy Davis wrote in a letter to the mayor last year.
· City Council Considers Putting Bite on Owners of Barking Dogs [Daily News]