Nevadans?

[Lacy Blues]

Hi, I ran across your thread on the laws regulating noisy animals in Washoe County. I know the last post is several months old but wanted to weigh in on the issue. I don't have chickens. I have two dogs and two birds and a neighbor who has decided that she will complain if she ever hears any animal from her house. My dog's aren't nuisance barkers and my birds (and African Grey and a Cockatiel) only whistle. I started getting letters from Animal Control 2 years ago, right after this neighbor moved in and in a period of 2 years I got 4 letters. I started locking the dogs in our bedroom at night and closing the windows so she wouldn't hear the birds, and if the dogs barked for more than a minute or two I brought them in.

Well, a few months a go I got a notice of civil penalty, a fine for $100, and Animal Control doesn't even come out and verify the complaint. The complainant asks for you to get a civil penalty, so you get one. I asked for a hearing and the hearing officer, a disability attorney didn't even know what excessive noise meant, she just said "frequent and loud" (that's the language from the ordinance). I brought two neighbor witnesses and three letters from other neighbors stating that in the 14 years I have lived here I have never had an animal that disturbed them.

She brought two family members and two witnesses who live a half mile away. When the hearing officer asked me to prove my dogs did not make noise I knew it was a lost cause. I lost the case and as I was leaving Animal Control said she filed a second civil penalty, this one with a $200 fine. I have a hearing set for that in January but I honestly do not know what to do. I have never in my life been through anything like this. I just installed an audio/video surveillance system to 'prove' my animals don't make noise..so much for being innocent until you are proven guilty huh?

Only reason I'm posting this is because if you have a neighbor who wants to make your life completely miserable this law gives them all the freedom in the world to do it. She is free to file a new civil penalty against me every day if she wants and after she files 4 I will be prosecuted for a misdemeanor in justice court..isn't that special? So..be really careful or you might end up in my shoes one of these days.

I think my old neighbor must have moved to your neighborhood. I know exactly how you feel. One thing you need to know is that letters are not really admissible in court because they cannot ask questions of it. You'll need to have your neighbors and whomever else you need to be there with you. If you have neighbors the same distance away as she is, or even better, closer than she is, make sure you get that neighbor to go down there with you.

Another thing... if you win the next one and the judge dismisses the case, I don't believe she can bring the same charges against you. I lost my first case too. The second one, I was found NOT GUILTY!

Go to radio shack and get yourself a digital (can't remember right now its exact name) it displays decibel ratings. It comes with a chart as to what is "usually" comfortable to people. Make a copy of this chart and enlarge it to give to the judge. Highlight the level of noise your dogs make. Draw up a map and show distances of your house to the property line and from there, how far it is to her house. Take readings from your property lines of your dogs barking outside and also of them barking inside while you are outside at your property line. Put all these readings on your map and explain everything on your map page that you have shown on it so there is no need for questions. Take readings at your property line for each neighbor you can get to go with you and put that on a second sheet so it is separate from the complaining neighbor's information.

There is no law against noise, just "frequent and loud" noise. You have to disprove both. Also, maybe you can ask Animal Control to come out and verify these claims? Is the court using the Animal Control Officer to prosecute? That's what they did with me. We asked, during the hearing, what steps he had taken to validate the claims of the claimant. He said "None, they complain so it must be a problem." Well, he looked pretty dumb. You can assert your right to innocense until PROVEN guilty under American judicial law and that just because someone says you are guilty, doesn't mean you are.

I wish you all the luck in the world getting this dealt with. I really do. I've been there, and I know your heart ache.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I think my old neighbor must have moved to your neighborhood. I know exactly how you feel. One thing you need to know is that letters are not really admissible in court because they cannot ask questions of it. You'll need to have your neighbors and whomever else you need to be there with you. If you have neighbors the same distance away as she is, or even better, closer than she is, make sure you get that neighbor to go down there with you.

Another thing... if you win the next one and the judge dismisses the case, I don't believe she can bring the same charges against you. I lost my first case too. The second one, I was found NOT GUILTY!

Go to radio shack and get yourself a digital (can't remember right now its exact name) it displays decibel ratings. It comes with a chart as to what is "usually" comfortable to people. Make a copy of this chart and enlarge it to give to the judge. Highlight the level of noise your dogs make. Draw up a map and show distances of your house to the property line and from there, how far it is to her house. Take readings from your property lines of your dogs barking outside and also of them barking inside while you are outside at your property line. Put all these readings on your map and explain everything on your map page that you have shown on it so there is no need for questions. Take readings at your property line for each neighbor you can get to go with you and put that on a second sheet so it is separate from the complaining neighbor's information.

There is no law against noise, just "frequent and loud" noise. You have to disprove both. Also, maybe you can ask Animal Control to come out and verify these claims? Is the court using the Animal Control Officer to prosecute? That's what they did with me. We asked, during the hearing, what steps he had taken to validate the claims of the claimant. He said "None, they complain so it must be a problem." Well, he looked pretty dumb. You can assert your right to innocense until PROVEN guilty under American judicial law and that just because someone says you are guilty, doesn't mean you are.

I wish you all the luck in the world getting this dealt with. I really do. I've been there, and I know your heart ache.

Back when I was working full time and trying to go to school part time, I was ordered to vacate an apartment for allegedly making too much noise. Some weeks later I ran into the manager who started profusely apologizing. It seems the woman who complained about me began to complain about another tenant in the building after I left and this tenant was also ordered to leave. Then, she continued to complain about noise from both apartments while they were vacant and began to complain about noise from a tenant who lived at the other end of the building! He gave me my deposit back on the spot. The manager had finally figured out that she complained about any tenant under the age of about fifty. (At times I had to work a double shift at the hospital where I worked and wouldn't get home until after midnight because of the bus schedule, and she would complain to me the next morning about my "loud drunken behavior coming home from that party" when I had come home straight from work. I can assure you that we weren't up there partying in the clinical chemistry laboratory while processing patient tests.

 

[2sleepy]

I think my old neighbor must have moved to your neighborhood. I know exactly how you feel. One thing you need to know is that letters are not really admissible in court because they cannot ask questions of it. You'll need to have your neighbors and whomever else you need to be there with you. If you have neighbors the same distance away as she is, or even better, closer than she is, make sure you get that neighbor to go down there with you.

Another thing... if you win the next one and the judge dismisses the case, I don't believe she can bring the same charges against you. I lost my first case too. The second one, I was found NOT GUILTY!

Go to radio shack and get yourself a digital (can't remember right now its exact name) it displays decibel ratings. It comes with a chart as to what is "usually" comfortable to people. Make a copy of this chart and enlarge it to give to the judge. Highlight the level of noise your dogs make. Draw up a map and show distances of your house to the property line and from there, how far it is to her house. Take readings from your property lines of your dogs barking outside and also of them barking inside while you are outside at your property line. Put all these readings on your map and explain everything on your map page that you have shown on it so there is no need for questions. Take readings at your property line for each neighbor you can get to go with you and put that on a second sheet so it is separate from the complaining neighbor's information.

There is no law against noise, just "frequent and loud" noise. You have to disprove both. Also, maybe you can ask Animal Control to come out and verify these claims? Is the court using the Animal Control Officer to prosecute? That's what they did with me. We asked, during the hearing, what steps he had taken to validate the claims of the claimant. He said "None, they complain so it must be a problem." Well, he looked pretty dumb. You can assert your right to innocense until PROVEN guilty under American judicial law and that just because someone says you are guilty, doesn't mean you are.

I wish you all the luck in the world getting this dealt with. I really do. I've been there, and I know your heart ache.

That's a good idea about the decibel meter, I may do that but for now we have an audio/video surveillance system installed that runs 24/7 and records all motion and noise in my yard. Animal control has never filed a complaint against me, they came out after her first complaint 2 years ago and the dogs were not barking. I spent a long time talking to an Animal Control Officer after this last hearing, he said the way this law is written she can file a civil penalty against me every day and they can't stop it, they don't even review them. The Officer told me: "there are two more civil penalties pending against you that were filed after she filed the first one" asked how you can get a second one before your trial on the first one and he said "that does sound crazy, huh?". I got number 2 and it lists barking incidents after she filed her first one. The third one never got filed, it was for my birds whistling from inside my house, I asked why I didn't get that one and they said "we can exercise discretion in issuing these when it involves exotics but not dogs" huh?

She sits in the window and watches my yard constantly. One of my neighbors told me that the other day she was leaning out her window with a camcorder apparently aiming it at the inside of my house. Where are my rights? Isn't that an invasion of privacy?

I wrote to the county commissioners and told them the law can't possibly be legal. If someone makes a complaint about you they should have to prove it, and not with a handwritten log and no video or audio evidence. The hearing officers don't have a clue what they are doing and could not even give me any idea of what they considered "loud and frequent". Does it mean a dog can bark once a month? Once a day? What about birds- is whistling an offense? The way they wrote this law Animal Control can't even refuse to issue a civil penalty, and a person can file one every day if they want. In case you haven't seen the text of the law, http://www.washoecounty.us/clerks/files/Ordinances/1460.pdf go to page 3 #9 and you will see where they gave the power to a nut job neighbor to issue civil penalties without Animal Control even witnessing the incident.

No matter how this turns out, I'm going to put pressure on the County Commission to change this, it's not right and anyone can become a victim of this insanity. If the County Commissioners blow me off, I will take it to the news and social media. At this point, there's not much more that they can do to me so I might as well raise hell. I can't spend the rest of my life dealing with this, so next year we are going to put our house up for sale and move (at least out of Washoe County, probably out of state).

 

[2sleepy]

I think my old neighbor must have moved to your neighborhood. I know exactly how you feel. One thing you need to know is that letters are not really admissible in court because they cannot ask questions of it. You'll need to have your neighbors and whomever else you need to be there with you. If you have neighbors the same distance away as she is, or even better, closer than she is, make sure you get that neighbor to go down there with you.

Another thing... if you win the next one and the judge dismisses the case, I don't believe she can bring the same charges against you. I lost my first case too. The second one, I was found NOT GUILTY!

Go to radio shack and get yourself a digital (can't remember right now its exact name) it displays decibel ratings. It comes with a chart as to what is "usually" comfortable to people. Make a copy of this chart and enlarge it to give to the judge. Highlight the level of noise your dogs make. Draw up a map and show distances of your house to the property line and from there, how far it is to her house. Take readings from your property lines of your dogs barking outside and also of them barking inside while you are outside at your property line. Put all these readings on your map and explain everything on your map page that you have shown on it so there is no need for questions. Take readings at your property line for each neighbor you can get to go with you and put that on a second sheet so it is separate from the complaining neighbor's information.

There is no law against noise, just "frequent and loud" noise. You have to disprove both. Also, maybe you can ask Animal Control to come out and verify these claims? Is the court using the Animal Control Officer to prosecute? That's what they did with me. We asked, during the hearing, what steps he had taken to validate the claims of the claimant. He said "None, they complain so it must be a problem." Well, he looked pretty dumb. You can assert your right to innocense until PROVEN guilty under American judicial law and that just because someone says you are guilty, doesn't mean you are.

I wish you all the luck in the world getting this dealt with. I really do. I've been there, and I know your heart ache.

That's a good idea about the decibel meter, I may do that but for now we have an audio/video surveillance system installed that runs 24/7 and records all motion and noise in my yard. Animal control has never filed a complaint against me, they came out after her first complaint 2 years ago and the dogs were not barking. I spent a long time talking to an Animal Control Officer after this last hearing, he said the way this law is written she can file a civil penalty against me and they can't stop it, they don't even review them. The Officer told me: "there are two more civil penalties pending against you that were filed after she filed the first one" asked how you can get a second one before your trial on the first one and he said "that does sound crazy, huh?". I got number 2 and it lists barking incidents after she filed her first one. The third one never got filed, it was for my birds whistling from inside my house, I asked why I didn't get that one and they said "we can exercise discretion in issuing these when it involves exotics but not dogs" huh?

She sits in the window and watches my yard constantly. One of my neighbors told me that the other day she was leaning out her window with a camcorder apparently aiming it at the inside of my house. Where are my rights? Isn't that an invasion of privacy?

I wrote to the county commissioners and told them the law can't possibly be legal. If someone makes a complaint about you they should have to prove it, and not with a handwritten log and no video or audio evidence. And what happened to the presumption of innocence, this law requires you to prove you are innocent of a baseless allegation. The hearing officers don't have a clue what they are doing and could not even give me any idea of what they considered "loud and frequent". Does it mean a dog can bark once a month? Once a day? What about birds- is whistling an offense?

The way they wrote this law Animal Control can't even refuse to issue a civil penalty, and a person can file one every day if they want. I can't post links, I had one to the actual text of this law but I think you can find it if you do a google search for "Washoe 1460" that should take you to a PDF file with all the information. If you find it and go to page 3 #9 you will see where the penalty can be imposed by a written complaint of a citizen.

No matter how this turns out, I'm going to put pressure on the County Commission to change this, it's not right and anyone can become a victim of this insanity. If the County Commissioners blow me off, I will take it to the news and social media. At this point, there's not much more that they can do to me so I might as well raise hell

 

[2sleepy]

I forgot to mention, the two witnesses I had at the hearing live next door to me and two doors away, I even gave the hearing officer a map and showed their proximity to me. She didn't even ask these neighbors the complainant brought their full name or address. It was a travesty. One thing I learned is that you can refuse to have your second hearing before the same hearing officer, not sure how much good that will do, for all I know I might get a worse one.

 

[Lacy Blues]

The decibel meters are fairly cheap. I would do that first. Your surveillance system is good but it doesn't accurately record how loud the noises are. Make up a map showing home placement and distances for the JUDGE. I'm sharing this from experience and I believe it is the key to my win. You are scheduled for a second hearing and there's no way out of it.

Yes you can disqualify the judge but it has to be done in a timely manner. When was the first hearing? Talk to people who have been in the court system for any reason at all and find out the name of the judge that actually paid attention to evidence put before him. If your first judge is not this judge, then you can disqualify him (has to be timely. Not a week before you're scheduled to appear). There probably aren't a tremendous number of judges to be had so chances are, if its not this judge, then it will be the other one. However, if you're stuck with the same judge, put together as much evidence as you can possibly get and be sure he gets all of it. Explain all of it to him so he can ask questions while you're there if he needs to. Go in with both barrels loaded, so to speak, don't just hope one additional thing will get it done. You probably won't accomplish much during the next two weeks anyway, so work toward your defense.

Yes, her videotaping you without your consent is a violation of your privacy. It would be hard to prove without reciprocating because as soon as an official shows up, she'll put her camera away. Of course, there are always the neighbors that said she saw her do it. They could testify on your behalf.

Who is defending you?

If it is you, then make up a list of questions. If you are sitting with this hearing officer, you can tell her the questions you want asked. Noise complaints that actually make it to court are a rare thing I think, and so a person who normally defends say a drunk driver or a speeding ticket or whatever isn't going to know what to ask because they are not familiar with those types of situations. You've got to take charge of your own defense. Write everything down, from your list of questions to the points you want to bring up to maps and information for the judge so he can make an informed decision.

 

[2sleepy]

I'm defending myself, but I'm thinking about going to the senior law center to see if they can help me. The first hearing was on December 17th. The 2nd one is on Jan 7th. I already recused the first hearing office and they scheduled a different one for the second hearing. These aren't even judges they are local attorneys who get on a list and get paid to go to these hearings. They don't follow the law. I know how trials are supposed to be conducted and this is a kangaroo court. I will check out the decibel meter but wouldnt the dog have to be barking? For now they only go out to potty and when they do we put citronella collars on them

 

[Lacy Blues]

Yes, they would need to be barking, or your birds whistling.

Make sure you have pictures of your dogs with their citronella collars to submit. This is good.

So you don't get to see an actual judge? Just some monkey making money for the system? Oh boy.

 

[2sleepy]

Yes, they would need to be barking, or your birds whistling.

Make sure you have pictures of your dogs with their citronella collars to submit. This is good.

So you don't get to see an actual judge? Just some monkey making money for the system? Oh boy.

Yeah, it's not a judge the one who heard my case was a local medical malpractice attorney. I looked up the administrative rules and the only qualification is that the person have a law degree or 2 years experience as a 'hearing officer'. I would rather have an animal control officer do the hearing. Two of them told me that they criteria they use for deciding if a dog is nuisance barking is repeated episodes of 30 barks within 10 minutes. When my dogs bark, if they are left alone they quit after 2 or 3 minutes but for the past several months I have been calling them in within 5 or 10 seconds after they start barking and they are locked in the house at night and when we aren't home.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Yes, her videotaping you without your consent is a violation of your privacy. It would be hard to prove without reciprocating because as soon as an official shows up, she'll put her camera away. Of course, there are always the neighbors that said she saw her do it. They could testify on your behalf.

Just how is she videotaping you? There might be a case here for her teasing your dogs into barking.

I'd talk to the Senior Law Center because it sounds like you have a neighbor with a sense of entitlement.

Get the statements of the animal control officer as to their definition of nuisance barking and demand proof from this woman that such incidents have occurred.

And a cheap decibel meter is a good idea.