Okay...I read the article...and here is my personal opinion on this...as a former paralegal, as a former Guide Dog for the Blind puppy raiser (7 projects), and as a former rural gal who actually grew up in Grants Pass (years ago).
I feel for the neighbors who had to put up with incessantly barking dogs for 10 years and couldn't find a peaceful resolve from a neighborly chat. The farm owners are totally inconsiderate and also apparently have no idea what a good LGD should do.
A well trained LGD does NOT need to bark and bark and bark. It alerts only when there is actual presence of a predator, then briefly to drive off the predator or alert the sheep herder.
I lived in that area for many years (grew up there, visited family over the years) and the area has grown up a lot. My daddy had an 80 acre ranch south of there, and then a 20 acre homestead for his retirement years. Let me just say, were were out in the boonies. Good grief, there aren't THAT many predators lurking around. We kept horses and cattle...and just checked in on them periodically. We saw an occasional bear, maybe a coyote or two. I don't remember ever having a loss, just a garden raided by bear. Even if there are numerous predators now (which I doubt as the area has filled in with a lot of suburbia), they aren't driven away by constant noise. It is the presence of the animal which deters them. Plus, if there were so many predators that the dog has to continually bark, you've got MAJOR problems. You'd have rifles out, some wildlife permits, and some better deterrents like electric fence and traps.
A poorly trained dog left to itself, in boredom, will bark and bark. It is a sign of insecurity not of trusted guardianship. Good working dogs are chill until they need to act.
Working cattle and sheep dogs bark when they herd sheep from one point to the next, however, that is a relatively short part of their day. Most of the day they are simply chilling keeping an eye open for any possible harm that might come. You might get occasional alert barking, occasional herding barking, but not day end and day out constant barking.
That kind of constant, never stop barking, is a bored and insecure dog left alone too much....put that into a pack of insecure dogs, and you've got too much noise.
I'm sure the courts were reluctant to order the de-barking of the animals (Oregon is very pro-animal and green as well). I can see the judge mulling this over as a way to give peace to the neighbors but yet allow the farm owners to keep their beloved pets....which honestly is what these animals are more of than trained working dogs....annoying pets.
My 2 cents.
