Thursday, June 4, 2015

Dangerous victims, part 1

Canine immunity - one of my main overarching themes.  This violates a primary civilizational principle of due process.  Due process *should* be granted to victims as well as perpetrators.  Why is it only the dog and the dog owner that is protected by "the system"?  Do not the rest of us have rights as well?   The government tells us "Put your blood feuds aside and let us dispense justice.  Give the system a chance to work".   Riiiiiiight!   That works when the "system" is not in the hip pocket of a certain special interest (cough, cough).

I have noted in the past that while dogs and their owners have protection from the government, that government can't be everywhere all the time.  Whether dog lovers like it or not, Fido is still beholden to the laws of nature and physics (see here and here).   Dogs and their owners may also face retribution from outraged victims.

On that note, British pilot drowns his neighbor's chronically barking dog.

Excerpts from the article [with my comments inserted].

A pilot drowned his neighbour’s dog in a bucket because he was fed up with hearing it barking from ‘morning until night’. 

Stephen Woodhouse, 52, lost his temper as he mowed his lawn and grabbed Meg the border terrier.  [He could hear the dog barking over the sound of the lawn mower?  Well, yes... dogs are LOUD]
After killing the pet – which had been bought as a companion for his neighbour’s disabled daughter who died aged ten – he dumped its corpse under a hedge.

Let me insert a longer comment here:  Forcibly drowning something / somebody is VERY personal.  You have to dunk it in water and hold it there while it struggles. This guy must have been SUPER pissed off!!

There was some building work being done and a big bucket of water, so I stuck it in the bucket until it stopped moving. I never thought of the consequences.’  [Uhhh... I guess not!]

When the Boddingtons reported seven-year-old Meg missing, dozens of villagers began searching for the little dog.

But the terrier’s fate was only revealed when a suspicious Mrs Boddington searched the boot of Woodhouse’s car. She found a rope and dog hair and alerted the police.

Lets stop here for a minute:  Consider that "Mrs Boddington (the owner) searched the boot (trunk) of Woodhouse's car".  OK - how the hell does a dog owner have the right to trespass search other people's cars?   You can't go around searching other people's houses and cars based on a suspicion.  Hey dog owners - I think I lost my watch.... I am going to toss your homes and your cars until I FIND THAT WATCH!  Idiots.
Defending, Sara-Lise Hawe said Woodhouse had recently suffered a heart attack and was still recovering at the time. She said the dog had ‘barked from morning until night’.
Mrs Hawe added: ‘He found it impossible to be in his garden. Mr Woodhouse is not a man who likes to complain but he had spoken to the council and he was at his wits’ end.  [Authorities did absolutely nothing to ameliorate the problem - as usual].

The Flybe pilot, who was yesterday sentenced to 12 weeks in jail, suspended for two years, later told police: ‘I reached my wits’ end. All I could think of was that the noise had to stop. It was driving me bloody mad  [I've been there a few times!]. I walked across my paddock, up to their fence, and the dog was about five metres away.

‘All I had to do was whistle and it trotted over. When it got to the fence, I picked it up and walked back across my paddock.There was some building work being done and a big bucket of water, so I stuck it in the bucket until it stopped moving. I never thought of the consequences.’

Again, this is the act of someone who is SUPER pissed off.  Given that this guy was gainfully employed, and not already in jail, I come to the conclusion that he must have suffered substantial barking torment for a long period of time.  This was exacerbated by the fact that the local authorities blew him off (welcome to the party, pal!).

Pro-barkers and apologistas need to contemplate the following:  This man was allegedly prevented from sleeping in his home by the neighbors yard barker.  Lack of sleep is equivalent to intoxication, and that has been proven.  Had the problem persisted, consider that the barking might have been the indirect cause of an airline crash!   How would you like it if YOU and your dog were on that plane?  I do not think you would like it too much.

I cannot directly condone what Woodhouse did, nor can I encourage others to act as he did.  That said, if I were on a jury for a case like this, I would either vote to aquit or nullify.  I would NOT grant the dog or the owner any state protection.  

Consider that Woodhouse had no protection from the dog or the owner.  The dog was allowed to destroy the peace for an extended time.  The dog owner was allowed to trespass and search Woodhouse's private belongings.  Where is the justice in that?   Why is there protection FROM this man, but none FOR him?   Vice Versa for the owner - there is protection FOR them, but none FROM them.  In a situation like that, is it really that surprising someone like Woodhouse would take matters into his own hands?

Now, I would vote to convict in a case like this if:
A)  The dog owner was fined substantially for disturbing the peace, and 
B)  The dog owner was banned from owning pets, and
C)  The dog owner was arrested for trespass and "searching" others private belongings. 

Of course, none of the above were done.  The dog owner is free to get another dog and go back to tormenting their neighbors.  Its all good!

One interesting takeaway from this incident are the comments under the article linked above.  It appears that many of the commenters have at least some sympathy for Woodhouse.   I.E. "I don't condone what he did, but....", more or less my position.   Another takeaway is, Meg's owners didn't care about her.  If they did, they would not have left her out to bark all the time.  They are lousy pet owners with no standards and they should not be allowed to own pets.

My verdict:  Woodhouse and Meg are the victims.  Dog owners and authorities are the perpetrators.   









37 comments:

  1. Types Of Dog Haters by Sam The Dog Trainer


    Dog Haters In Your Neighborhood Phoenix Scottsdale Train

    These two links sum up the mentality of most dog owners. You will note he goes on about anyone carrying a stick or cane while out walking. Interestingly you don't go for a walk out here unless you take a sturdy whacking , shooting or spraying weapon with you. Not because you are looking for a dog to beat but because you might have to defend yourself.
    There was another case here in the US where a man went in and took out a small yapper. There was one in Albuquerque a few weeks ago where someone shot a couple of the yappers over the fence. The owners lamented they never barked that much. That statement alone implies to me they were indeed aware of a problem.
    I"m sure this man tried to reason with the idiot dog owners. Dogs bark. Yes they do. It's the job of the owner to shut them the f up. I don't have to allow your dog into my personal space. That is the purpose of fences and leashes. Yes I do carry a weapon. You would be a fool not to.

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    1. I despise those people. Sam promotes the notion that just about anyone who complains about any dog for any reason is a crank. An "anti-social nutcase". How is it anti-social to complain about a dog, or even all dogs? There is a heavy implication that dogs are people and thus part of society. People like him are the reason we have all of these problems and that includes the pit bull "problem".

      My next essay relates to a pit bull mauling. I no longer harbor any sympathy for any dog owner that winds up on the wrong end of a pit bull attack, be it them or their dog that got torn up. Their ideology dictates that they are cranks, the whole thing was their fault, and they should just shut the hell up while the pit goes back to its owner. Look, your dog got into a fight and lost so just deal with it you anti-social nutcase.

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    2. According to him there is also a dog poisoner hiding behind every bush. Even worse you might walk around your own yard to make sure it's not full of the neighborhood dogs. At which point you might brandish your pointy stick and impale them. Vlad did have a point...

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    3. Indeed, he has some sort of paranoid anti-social disorder. Ironically, that prophecy will be fulfilled as the ranks of dog haters and anti-dog-cult activists grows by the day. And, grows for legitimate reasons, too!

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  2. I have to agree with you. This woman KNEW the dog was barking like mad and made a choice every day for an extended period of time to do nothing about it. There is bark training, bark control collars, and surgical debarking. There is just no excuse to allow these negligent owners to continue shirking responsibility.

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  3. And they wonder why some people hate dogs. Here's another thing to ponder: Some of them used to be dog lovers. What caused the mind change? Well, I'll spell it out for you:

    B-A-R-K-I-N-G

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    1. Too many people are living vicariously through DOG and allow their dog to behave any damn way the DOG pleases. This is called a BAD OWNER.

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    2. It's a dual problem mentally ill humans combined with the unnatural behaviors bred into dogs.

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    3. YQN, that is absolutely one of the biggest reasons why I went from loving dogs to liking them, and from getting along with the dog loving community to distancing myself from them after learning more about dog culture and the pet industry.

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  4. You speak more truth than you know, Eileen. I've noticed that more than a few of the "dog people" aren't right in the head. And the dogs are there to compensate for their failures in human relationships.

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    1. The DSM IV should be updated to include a new personality disorder:

      A few ideas....

      CDD - Canine Derangement Disorder
      CDS - Canine Derangement Syndrome
      DWC - Doggie Worship Complex
      CSD - Canine Supremacy Disorder
      ADW - Anti-Social Dog Worshiper

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  5. There will be one for evil dog haters long before society addresses the antisocial behaviors of dog nuts.

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  6. Love this: http://www.phillymag.com/news/2012/09/19/hate-dogs/

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    1. As always the comments are my bread and butter. Yes if you hate dogs you must have bodies in the freezer or buried in the rose bed.
      I have explained this over and over. I am not the hall monitor. I pay little to no attention to what most of the neighbors here are doing. I feel absolutely no need to direct their lives or peer over fences . Until you start impacting out lives on a regular basis. If you act like an infection I'm going to treat you like one.
      My neighbors are having a hard time. I have cameras up and being outside most of the day I see their dogs each time they come trotting this way. At night at the first bark the portable goes in the back window so if we have a concert I have it on video. We spent 3 years trying to get some commitment to control their dog. The answer was to get a second dog and let it become an even bigger nuisance. The night that mutt tried to kill my cat through the screen was the final straw. They are now living in the reality they created. We have reduced our own efforts to almost zero to monitor their neglectful pet ownership skills.
      In an interesting play on the dog nuts own line of thinking. If she is that neglectful of her dogs she must therefore be a neglectful parent.
      Unlike the doggers claim that hating mutts makes you a psycho.there is a clear evidence that animal cruelty , spousal abuse and child abuse often go hand in hand. Neglect is a form of abuse and letting your dogs run loose is nothing less than neglectful.

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    2. I found that article around 2 years ago and it's one of my favorite anti-dog/anti-dog culture posts....ever. It nails the point, in a way that points out the problem while also being civil and generous. And it's finely written.

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    3. Indeed, most of the critique dog fanatics aim at their foes are reflections of their own insecurity and self doubt.

      Consider:
      - Lack of respect for the rights of others.
      - Destructive, anti social behavior.
      - Abuse of authorities.
      - Lying, cheating, and other dishonest activities.

      ... are all typical behaviors of the neighborhood dog bully.

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    4. Great article with fabulous comments!

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  7. I don't hate dogs. Quiet, well behaved ones with good owners are fine by me. I do hate vicious or yappy ones, but I still place the blame on the idiot who owns them. It was always easy enough to call ours right back inside if they started to bark. The raccoons and opossums didn't mean to intrude and our dogs just wanted to scare them off. Training dogs not to bark at people passing by, even if they're making noise is easy. Training them not to bark at wildlife isn't. A good owner takes care of both situations, because the barking is at the very least an annoyance. Now, if it's a coyote or something more dangerous, maybe a good owner goes to the neighbors with an explanation, especially if they have outdoor cats. Since ours didn't bark unless they saw a wild animal, and were always called right back in, it wasn't a problem. If we saw signs of bigger animals, we would let the neighbors know. The ironic thing is, we had a neighbor who hated our cats and bitched if they even saw them in our driveway, yet they had two nasty, LOUD dogs. We started calling the police when the dogs barked at nothing or anything, and they stopped letting them run for hours out back. Our cats didn't run either, we had them fixed, they just liked getting some fresh air sometimes.
    About morons who are attacked by their dogs, my newest neighbor had a pit. Lived beside the owners of JR. She claims JR is a big baby and a sweetheart, as long as you're not an animal. That her pit was too. Her ex has their dog now. But no pits are really mean, they're all misunderstood. I hope she doesn't learn the hardest way, her 7 year old and baby shouldn't be teaching tools. Now if either dog attacks her, she's the dumbass defending them, and would get no sympathy from me.

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    1. Some people might find this surprising, but I don't hate dogs either.

      What I hate is dog culture. I truly despise dog worshipers and AR fanatics because it is they who create and perpetuate these problems. It is they who promote the social norms of:

      - Dogs and their owners can do no wrong.
      - Everyone must love each and every dog unconditionally.
      - The victim is always to blame.
      - The interests of dog/owners is always paramount.
      - Etc...

      These creeps lie and cheat to advance their agendas. They are vile maggots and if I am ever crowned King, they will all be sent to the Gulag.

      I dunno if any of you read my "Haterz" essay from a few years ago. One of the points I made there was that projecting hatred against a dumb animal, a consumer product, is a waste of emotional capital (in my opinion). Simply put, a dog is not really worth hating.

      Indeed, I do not even hate individual "bad" dogs like Mickey. I believe Mick should be humanely euthanized because he has no rights, his life has no value, and he is proven dangerous. To me, killing Mick is the right thing to do for a host of reasons, but not an act of vengeance.

      Perhaps, to some people, I am making a fine point. Fine, but important. This ties into my disagreement with the Pit Bull haters. Pit Bulls are the means. The means to project aggression. I believe that to focus entirely on the means is a mistake. The Miami Pit Bull ban appears to be failing, due to the fact that a little boy was killed by one late last year and the city itself is now adopting out supermaulers. That is what will happen when ones focus is entirely on the means and not the supporting cultural and social causes.

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    2. The hate is what spurs on people to do something, so it is worth hating dogs. It has to be a productive hate, a movement fueled by a desire for change and the loathing of the problem. Dogs themselves are a problem as are their owners. Putting a dog down is doing it a favor. It's a mercy killing that no one else would do. Locking them up behind wooden walls or a cage is only prolonging the problem. Leaving them sealed off from everything else is prolonging the problem. Not caring for them is prolonging the problem. Not getting on the asses of lawmakers is prolonging the problem. Allowing this culture to thrive is prolonging the problem.

      Hate dogs, hate the problem, fix the problem, end the hate. I hate dogs, but instead of prolonging their suffering, I would give them mercy by shuffling off their mortal coils. I'm nice like that. The humans who prolong their suffering wouldn't get the same treatment. They deserve worse.

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  8. I don't disagree with you. The dog culture is the problem. I remember good owners with great dogs as a kid. Now, everywhere you have to watch out for waste, dogs aren't made to shut up and some would kill us if given half a chance. I don't want any of those things either. That's why I didn't perpetuate it when our family had digs. As for Mickey, I feel the exact same way. He isn't aware of his actions and saving him was stupid. He did what pit bulls do, sparing him sets a dangerous precedent for all of us. Putting him down would have been better for all concerned. Including the dog himself.

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  9. Not so long ago here a dog that ran loose and became a menace or a nuisance was shot and tossed on a fence post. The dead dog feels no pain. It served as a powerful reminder that there are consequences when you let your dog roam.
    As for barking. When a normal human being has been subjected to so much stress and torture for months and sometimes years by a barking dog and finally dives off the deep end and silences the problem the owners should be charged with terrorism.
    Of course this could only work if you have a record of complaints that have been ignored time and time again. Which it seems this man did.
    Instead of pleading he should have sued the woman and the council and had the evidence voided since there is no chain of evidence.
    I've been through micro sleeps because of the dog barking next door. He had a valid defense. I wish he would have used it.

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    1. RE: Evidence. You are right - In the US legal system, the "evidence" was gained in a warrantless search and a rookie lawyer could have thrown it out. However, the incident was in Britain and the laws there may allow it.

      Not that any of that matters in any case. Dog owners get to violate all of our other rights, why not our 4th amendment protections? They get to search our homes and cars until they find EVIDENCE that we don't like dogs!

      Reminds me of an interesting incident on my block. I was returning from work one evening (I usually work from home but had a downtown gig at the time) and I saw a bunch of neighbors clustered together in front of one of the homes. They flagged me down for a chat: Apparently, some idiots were "casing" the neighborhood - looking in windows on all sides of each home, trespassing in back yards. They crawled all over every square yard of the immediate neighborhood, apparently.

      So, the cops show up and pick them up. Their excuse? Their DOG was missing, and they wanted to see if any one of us was housing it. Yep, doggers can do whatever they want.

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    2. Yes well, every now and then dogs get out...

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  10. Every time a dog invades a yard or house and attacks, they're owners are violating our rights to a safe and secure home. I can't understand how a pit bull, or other vicious dog owner is above the law. If a poodle came in and killed a pet, they'd be screaming for, and win, it's head on a pole. Yet vicious dogs get by with it all the time. It just makes no sense, why the deadly ones get so much more protection, and their obnoxious owners.

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  11. Just an update on the criminal dog barker in my neighborhood. He took a plea deal to 3 counts of felony aggravated assault (choking) and 2 felony misdemeanor for domestic violence. The 2 felony kidnapping charges were dropped with the guilty plea deal. 6-8 years.

    People treat their animals like they treat other people.

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    1. Too bad he didn't get more, but a good outcome nevertheless. Vonderbar!

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    2. good news ! So that ends the barking ?

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    3. I hope that the barking has stopped. And I'm happy to hear about the lengthy sentence.

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  12. This is the official UK government line on never-stop-barking dogs.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69221/pb10561-bark-dog-110621.pdf

    I looked up how to report a perma-barking chihuahua (which is yipping away mindlessly even as I type this) and discovered that the government, first and foremost, is nice to the owners of barking mutts. It fails to recognise the obvious: (1) That dog owners can hear their mutt's barking as much as anyone else can, unless they leave the damn thing to roam around the garden while they're out all day, and (2) Most dog owners will not tolerate people speaking ill of their beloved canine and are likely to tell the polite-but-at-their-wits'-end complainant to 'f-off', or words to that effect. In the UK there is also a (3), which is that if you sell your property you have to declare any disputes with neighbours, which means that a lot of people don't complain in case it causes problems when they try to sell.

    Good dog owners (and there are a few around) don't let their dogs bark excessively. Those that do are hardly going to look online for a leaflet addressed to them! After a bit more searching I found another GOV.UK site about reporting a noise nuisance (including these damned pets):

    https://www.gov.uk/report-noise-pollution-to-council

    but when I entered my postcode (which linked to my local Council) it referred me back to the first site!

    No wonder that pilot ending up drowning that perma-yapping animal in a bucket! If he's set a precedent (time will tell) then maybe the government will start clamping down on owners of dogs that affect the quality of life of those living nearby.

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    1. Anon @ 1:21 -

      The policy in your location is the policy almost everywhere - protect Fido and his owner from victims and complainants. Any laws on the books are either designed to be unenforceable, or are summarily ignored by authorities.

      The USA does not have a national animal control code per se, but the Federal EPA is supposed to regulate noise emissions. It does a terrible job of that. Given that the current social environment demands that Fido get unlimited free passes, I do not see EPA curbing this problem in the near future.

      That said, there are a handful of locales that do not grovel in front of the dog bullies and have readily enforceable animal control codes.

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    2. Those places that enforce leash laws and barking are what the doggy community calls anti-dog laws.

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  13. Here's a site on which comments can be left about perma-yapping canines.

    http://www.problemneighbours.co.uk/barking-dogs.html#Newcomment

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    1. I believe it's stupid and dangerous in some cases to try and talk to dog owners about their barking or loose dogs. They know the thing is barking and if it's left to roam the dog owners don't care what it's doing. This man was recovering from heart issues. Listening to a non stop yapping dog while trying to recover and the possibility he might be found unfit to retain his job as a pilot because of it .
      I might have tied the dog to a brick ,covered it with pitch and hurled through that dog owners window.

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    2. Agreed - contacting the owner directly is at best pointless, at worst a lethal mistake. Some dog foamers feel entitled to kill anyone who complains about their dog.

      In spite of what dog fanatics and their enablers want everyone to think, barking dogs are not the source of a "dispute". In a true dispute, both sides may be at least partially in the right.

      There is nothing right or good about a yard barker: Dog owners need to silence their dogs or get rid of them, period. There is nothing further to discuss, negotiate or mediate. In nearly every one of these cases, it is painfully clear that the dog has allowed to become a nuisance. The victims should not have to "work it out" with the dog owner, who is clearly a criminal. It is no different than someone vandalizing your house or dumping trash on your property: The behavior is anti-social, destructive, and flat out wrong. ANY amount if it is flat out wrong. The dog owner needs to cease and desist immediately and pay amends.

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    3. I can't believe the time we wasted trying to reason with these idiots next door. The level of animosity by the time I snapped and called dispatch was palatable. It's a wonder weapons weren't drawn. Aside from a brief spate of quiet we might get because they were feeling magnanimous nothing was ever accomplished. Within 3 days everything would roll back to normal with her being too lazy to scrape her butt crack off the sofa and shut her freaking dogs up.
      Now guess what , They think we're rude and un-neighborly for calling the AC Sheriff over and over on them for their dogs being loose and yapping for hours on end. She of course ( I am rolling my eyes here ) had no idea there was a problem.
      A person who owns a dog that is a problem that agrees to take care of it is not doing anything but perpetuating the situation as long as they can in the hopes you'll give up. When it goes hostile there is the underlying threat of you can't be home or you can't have a cop at your house 24/7 to keep you safe from my childish wrath.
      I chased one of her nasty mutts out of the road a few days ago with my car. Went to pull out and there it was laying in the road. I went that way and chased the ugly piece of vomit back in her yard with my horn blaring. I wasn't trying to run it over. Ewwww my poor car. I made the thing get up and move and run for it's yard. Where it fucking belongs.
      These tools actually try and let their dogs out to run when we're not home or around. I have cameras. Stupid and pathetic and the perfect example of the mindset of doggy entitlement. Since they're in most the time and quiet at night we're in a holding pattern.

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