Prompt Corrective Action

Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) is a concept originated by legislators of FDIC (bank) rules.  However, it is a good concept that can be applied to any out of control situation.

The basic concept is, when you have a bank that is failing, FDIC regulators take Prompt and Corrective Action to resolve the problem before it grows into a full blown crisis.  This may include taking the bank into receivership (nationalization).

In the abstract, what you want is for ANY relevant authority, public or private, to correct a problem before it becomes a full blown disaster.  If they are not going to do that, why have government and/or authorities in the first place?  I can spend my own tax money just fine!

“Your Quiet Neighbor” made the point the other day that, before we can solve our Animal Uncontrol problems, we first have to simply recognize them for what they are.  I’ll choose uncontrolled, useless barking as the object as YQN has an anti-barking blog!

Uncontrolled, useless barking is disturbance of the peace and should be treated as such.  Chronic offenses are disorderly conduct and should likewise be treated as such.

Consider the following.  If I were to stand at the curb and yell into a bullhorn at 3am, what would happen to me?

What would happen is, neighbors would call police.  Police would arrive and immediately upon noting the disturbance of the peace, would summarily cite me for same.  If I were to persist in that behavior, I would be arrested on a disorderly conduct charge and taken to jail.  Police would (or at least should) do this because they are peace officers and their primary job is to maintain the peace.  This Prompt Corrective Action restores peace to the neighborhood.

However, in the doggy world that is generally not how things work.  The “barking ordinances” are usually nothing but a free pass given to dog owners.  In my jurisdiction, for a citation to be issued, the dogs would have to bark for over a half hour, multiple households would have to document the incident and file complaints, there would be a hearing, and the potential outcome would be that a judge may determine a violation had been committed.  While all this paperwork is being shuffled and time wasted, the dog owner is free to destroy the quality of life of everyone in the vicinity with noxious “secondhand barking”.  This “policy” is due to the fact that the interests of individual dogs are given a higher priority than the rights of the taxpayers in the vicinity.   PCA in doggy cases is exceedingly rare.

If you are a taxpayer, paying the salaries of politicians and authorities, you should demand PCA in all doggy related cases.   Don’t buy the nonsense that they can’t afford it:  If you shot the dog they would be there in a heartbeat and you would be OWNED.  Furthermore, if they make the fines high enough, the corrective action should pay for itself.

PCA in AC means that authorities promptly take corrective action to resolve the situation BEFORE:

-          People become ill.

-          Victims take matters into their own hands. I.E. shoot or poison the dog.

-          Lethal violence erupts in the community.  Consider my Dangerous Owner’s Part I and Part II essays.

-          The dog’s “misdemeanor” behavior escalates to serious injury or death inflicted upon a human being or another animal.

So, with PCA in effect in doggy cases, how would the situation play out?

Here is how it should play out.  This would be an ongoing policy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  A dog is barking uncontrollably.  You call police who then notify AC. 

-          If the dog owner is at home, he is cited immediately for disturbance of the peace regardless of any further action.  He will be instructed by police that he must silent his animal right then and there.  If he refuses or is unable to silence the animal immediately, the animal is summarily impounded by AC and the owner arrested for disorderly conduct.

-          If the dog owner is NOT at home, a citation for disturbance of the peace is nailed to his door, and AC will seize and remove the dog from the community immediately. They will force entry onto the premises if necessary.  The dog owner will be instructed in how to retrieve his pet, with instructions to keep it silent in the future.  If a doggy disturbance of the peace is noted again within 24 hours, the owner is again cited for disturbance of the peace and arrested for disorderly conduct.

-          The only exception to the above would be if the dog was somehow barking usefully:  I.E. there was a crime in progress on the property on which the dog is being housed.  Passerby in the street, the wind blowing, and people occupying other properties do NOT constitute an emergency!

Prompt Corrective Action.  It’s why YOU pay taxes.  Don’t you want your money’s worth?  Feel free to print off this post and mail it to your county executives.