Re: your July 11 article, “Tighter law to muzzle noisy dogs studied�:
As a dog owner and resident of Camarillo for more than 20 years, I am disappointed in the city wasting time and money on this issue.
I had a neighbor who walked around the neighborhood, calling Animal Control on any dog that barked, even once. Coming home from work, I would find notices on my door that Animal Control had come out to the house to investigate. This was the only neighbor who complained, as the other neighbors around me have dogs and he called on them as well. This happened at least once a week.
This man did not even live on my street, but he was so obsessed that he would park his car in front of my home, and as soon as the dog barked — whether it was for the mailman, gas man or whomever — he would call.
I don't know why this man had it in for every person in the neighborhood who had a dog, but regardless of the reason, Animal Control did come out. The officer spoke with the neighbors, all of whom backed my story, and said they had to come out regardless of who made the complaint or how many times it was called in, even if it was by just one person several times a day.
I even had to get a restraining order on this neighbor so he would not park in front of my home, walk by my house or come near me or my dog. But that did not deter him from calling Animal Control every day, and by this time, I was on a first-name basis with the officers, who, even though they knew my dog was not a problem, still had to take time out of their day to come by my home and make sure this man saw they had come by.
By the way, the officer met my dog, saw the abundance of food, water, bedding, and cleanliness of the dog and found no merit my dog was abused or neglected. This is all in their reports.
The only reason the visits from Animal Control stopped was because the man passed away.
— Dawn Ott, Camarillo
Sometimes death's bark is worse than it's bite!