La Plata County officials are discussing taking a bite out of barking dogs with an ordinance that could establish fines and penalties.
County commissioners discussed the issue on Aug. 5 after receiving complaints from residents across the county. One letter to Commissioner Julie Westendorff states: "There are situations where barkers do not belong, where mutual respect between neighbors is compromised, and then law is required. We have many dogs and too many people. Our growth should be in maintaining good community relations."
Commissioners scheduled a two-hour public work session for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 29, when they will hear from residents, animal protection officers and law-enforcement officials. A less-controversial effort at establishing an ordinance addressing animal cruelty is also being discussed.
"At some point we have to figure out, how do we communicate with the public about the challenges of having a barking ordinance, an enforceable one, because it's pointless to have one if it's not going to be enforced," Westendorff said.
The sheriff's deputies, prosecutors and animal-protection officers are concerned about establishing an ordinance without additional resources to enforce it. Many of those concerns derailed past efforts at creating a county barking-dog ordinance.
The city of Durango has an ordinance that prohibits an animal disturbing "any person by unreasonable barking, howling, yelping or vocal sound."
Animal Protection Services would likely take on the burden of enforcing the county ordinance. Director Gary Skiba said the county would need to provide additional resources, which would mean an increase in the La Plata County Humane Society's contract with the county.
"If indeed a barking ordinance goes into effect, there's going to be a cost associated with it, and I expect that we'll get some reimbursement for that," Skiba said.
There's no clear picture yet of the ordinance. Some ideas include establishing fines for the first few offenses, followed by an official summons to county court. Other ideas include creating a mediation process so that neighbors can work with each other to solve issues.
Commissioner Brad Blake worries that the upcoming work session might turn into neighbors beating each other up, which could foreshadow behavior after passage of a barking-dog ordinance.
"It's going to be a hard nut to crack," Blake said. "You're going to get a lot of people who come in and complain about their neighbor's dog. Obviously, they don't see eye-to-eye. One neighbor loves their dog, and the other neighbor hates the dog."
