A town in NJ is setting a limit on barking...

it's another one of those stupid laws lol..i really don't understand who makes them and how on earth are they going to implement such a stupid law..as if there are not other things to be busy with..

How do you stop a dog from barking? All they are going to do is force people to get rid of their dogs.

I think its great for those that stick their dogs outside all the time and let them bark all night. Not sure how it is there but in Ontario we have a 24 hour noise bylaw. Barking dogs is part of it. Nobody likes to listen to a dog barking continually and I think that it is unfair to expect this from your neighbours.

$250.00 is really steep for a fine for a dog barking for 30 minutes for two days in a row. When a dog barks for a long time it get's to be irritating depending on the breed. Heck, my beagle doesn't bark all the time, but when she does it irritates me. When a dog barks for 30 minutes or longer, doesn't that mean that something could be wrong with that dog or something is around that shouldn't be around in the first place. I still can't get over the fact that this town is so desperate for money that they will steep this low. I think the people of this town that owns dogs should get together and complain. Maybe if enough people complained this would be dismissed, or the fine lowered and only given to owners that leave there dogs tied up when they are not home. When your home, you can easily go outside and either see what's making the dog bark that long or if nothing to tell it to shut up, lol.

Really funny and absurd !! I wonder what the reasoning is behind such a law. I thought crime could be fought in innovative ways. But never thought stupidity involves innovation too

an endlessly barking dog can drive you right up the bulkhead. people do need to take care when considering the obtaining of a pet. however, to legistlate it invites abuse.

If there is a competition for the most absurd law, then we have just found the winning entry. I can appreciate the annoyance caused by constantly barking dogs, but the whole concept should be kept within reason. Dogs bark for many reasons, such as enjoying themselves while playing with the children or as a guard dog protecting their home. If no allowance for the time of day or the reason for barking is taken into consideration, then every dog owner in the town will be fined in 2007.

It would be easily enforced. The neighbors that are being kept up from the barking would call the sheriff or animal control. Which ever handles the situation. I am all for this law. Pet owners need to take responsiblity for their animals. They also need to have their pets trained if they are going to have them. Every dog can be taught not to continueously bark for that long. My mini pins have been taught when they are outside. They only bark to alert us if someone comes in the yard. Or when they want in.

That is why I live in the counrty with animals. I don't have to worry about that. Making too much noise is always at issue when you live near neighbors. Dogs need room and attention and city folk usually don't have either available to their pets. I hope they already get the loud cars and boom boxes and party laws in the works. No mowing befoe 8 in the morning and nothing like that after 9 at night. Tis a shame but it is an issue since it does bother certain people. Never had a dog ever in the city.

Believe it or not, they do. Almost every small town near where a live in Pennsylvania has some sort of "No Barking Ordinance". When neighbors complain, they send someone out to assess the situation and issue a citation. The fines are stiff. It's downright cruel the way some people go away for an entire day or two and leave a scared lonely animal to bark in misery and bother an entire neighborhood. The "no Barking Ordinances" are pretty effective here.

I think it is a good idea. I am a dog lover, and have had dogs. I have lost many nights of sleep because of someone leaving their dog outside to bark all night. They don't bring in the dog, and they don't quiet the dog either. I have also been home sick and obviously the dog is out all day long as well. When you have a pet, you owe it not only to your pet, to bring it in the house when you are home, and or have a special place for it to go, otherwise don't have a dog. You also have an obligation to be a good neighbor. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who have barking dogs, and don't do anything about it. It isn't until it affects their pocketbook that motivates them to take some sort of action. It is one thing, if the dog is barking because of an intruder, and or because something is wrong, but to bark just to bark, is not something that should be inflicted on your neighbors.

That is so crazy!! People can't control their dogs barking..and if they can I don't know how! It is annoying to hear a dog barking for a long time but I have never really had a problem, we don't have a dog right now and don't have any annoying "dog neighbors" that bother us. Crazy story!!

I personally find this absolutely ridiculous. there is NO way on earth that this is going to go through surely? How on earth can they enforce this? They're saying that it'll be rare to get a summons because the person who made the complaint will have to go to court to sign a summons paper. If people are pissed off enough, they'll do it. I just don't get why people would be petty enough to do this. It's going to bring out all those who have grudges against another person, and they'll start to think, "oh, they have a dog, lets go to court to have them fined, that'll get them back for winning me in that card game last night." Pretty lame reasoning I know, but you get the idea I'm sure. I don't think this will go through to be honest. there will have to be certain limitations and I'm not sure how they'd implement those.

I think fines are a good idea. Dog owners have a resposibility to see that their animals are under control. Twice now, I've been in situations where I really needed my night's sleep, only to have it disturbed by a dog barking hours on end. This was so annoying that both times I called the police. I didn't balme the dog but the owners had no business leaving their animals out barking in neighborhoods where people were trying to rest. This is extremely inconsiderate and negligent owners should be made to realize that it is not acceptable to impose hours of noise and sleeplessness on their neighbors.

Well now it is getting stupid I mean this is taking the Biscuit now, how are they going to enforce that and how is a Owner suppose to stop the Dog apart from leaving a Mussle on constantly which by the way is cruel. The Goverments will do anything to get money.

Yes dog barking can be a pain in the butt but how do they plan to enforce this. Instead of neighbourhood patrol, they might have dog barking patrol. That is also a large fine. I think a smaller fine and a warning would be the way to go for the first time. After that then if it continues to be a problem increase the fine value. I no my neighbours just but their dogs in the backyard and forget about them. It can be come very annoying at times.

This is not practical. How can someone proof the time of barking for a dog. Someone can complain only after barking five minutes or some woner can deny it after barking for hours also. ohh this is totally confusing for me.

in some ways it's good and some not- for instance- my neighbor in the back or me has a dog that barks all the time when she is out- but- the woman has MS and waits for the nurse to come by to let her out, undfortunately for us that can be at 1:00 am in the morning. Or if people keep their dogs outside, in a dog house while they are at work-- they can't stop the dog from barking.... I can see if the barking occurs after 10:00 pm at night or before 8:00 am in the morning - but how are you gonna stop them from barking. I know my guys bark all day at anything that walks or floats past our house- they sit in my picture window and watch. Now Iwonder if I would get a fine - they may not be outside but they bark pretty loud and can be heard by our neighbors even though they are inside.

Yet another stupid law by NJ politicians who want nothing to do with issues that are way more important, such as our ridiculously high property taxes. I don't agree with the law, but do agree that a few dog owners are just negligent. If I owned a dog and heard him/her barking in the backyard, I would immediately investigate. Is he/she barking because of another dog? Stranger? Animal? In any case, I would get the dog back inside the house for awhile. Maybe he or she is just tired or cold or hungry or all three.

Wow! that was really something to talk about paying a fine because of a barking dogs for $ 250 wheww that amount of money is almost can feed a family here in my country for a month. They can classified it as a public disturbance and warned the owner for the offense of the dog but giving a fine is something else oh!strange.