The Dog Next Door

The dog next door is driving us mad! My husband gets home from work around 4 a.m., and it begins non-stop barking around 6 a.m., which wakes him up early every day. We have tried speaking with the neighbors, but were told to “buy some earplugs”. What I do not understand, is that the dog barks mostly when they are gone. Anyway, after a couple months of this non-stop barking, my husband is literally ready to shoot the dog. I know this sounds terrible, but how much sleep can one lose before losing their mind! We are not dog haters, we own a small dog, but we respect our neighbors enough not to let it just sit outside and bark, and bark, and bark! So, I call animal control who then points-out that we need to call the sheriff’s department. I call them, and they say call animal control. Finally, in a moment of desperation, I say to the deputy I was speaking with during one of these calls, “Well, if the dog comes in our yard, we have the right to shoot it, correct?” His reply stunned me. He informed me the only right we had to shoot the dog, even if it was on our property, was if it was actually in the process or beginning to attack. We could be held liable if it was not under these circumstances. I should mention here that the dog is huge and has actually bit a neighborhood boy before, and we have a five year old. When I explained this to the deputy he said that it did not matter, we still did not have the right to do anything if the dog came into our yard unless it literally attacked or attempted to attack. Is that not crazy! Have they not heard of the string of stories of young children being killed by a dog attack? It is a shame that we live in a world where a dog has more rights than a person. It is even more shameful that a neighbor is so inconsiderate of those around him, because that is where the real blame lays. Anyone ever have the joy of having such an inconsiderate neighbor? How did you get it resolved? We are currently keeping a “barking log” so that we can hire a lawyer…for a dog!