I made a complaint just over a month ago about next doors dogs. I sent recordings of the howling that takes place almost religiously. A month passed and I heard nothing apart form the dogs howling.
Yesterday I made a second complaint about another dog in the street and also asked about my first complaint that I lodged. I got the email below in regards to the new complaint
Thank you for contacting Ipswich City Council. Council’s Local Laws require owners of animals to prevent their animals from becoming a nuisance. In order to raise a service request for the matter to be investigated, we require the following information. Please note that noise complaints will not be actioned if the request is lodged as an Anonymous complaint. Your details are required for Ipswich City Council purposes and are kept strictly confidential. Please advise: • A description of the dog/s causing the nuisance Is there a usual time when the barking starts and stops? Does the barking continue through the day and night? Does the barking continue for periods of more than 5-10 minutes at a time or frequent short periods? Is the barking any better or worse when the owner’s are away from the property? Please also provide the following information if you can. How many people live at the address? Are there any neighbourhood disputes / occurring? Is there any substance use at the address? Eg alcohol/drugs Are you aware of any safety concerns for officers? Eg threats/violence/aggressive behaviour Council will contact the animal owner and advise them that their dog(s) is allegedly causing a nuisance to their neighbours. They will be given some time to address the nuisance. Please monitor the situation over the next 14 days. If you feel that the dog(s) is still causing a nuisance, please call us back and quote your service request number, and the issue will be escalated to a Compliance Officer to investigate further. Further information regarding barking dogs can be found on our website at http://www.ipswich.qld.gov.au/residents/animals/dogs/barking/. |
| If you have any questions or require further information, please contact Council on 07 3810 6666 during business hours (8.00am – 4.30pm Monday to Friday) quoting the above Service Request Number, or reply to this email (without altering the Subject line). Customer Service Team Ipswich City Council |
I then got a phone call from a typical government nyaff. The phone call did not go well…my response to the council about the call and the current complaints:
I got a call yesterday in regards to the complaint and the one that I lodged over one month ago. I noticed that the status of the first complaint had been closed without being contacted further by the council to give me any updates. The gentleman that called me yesterday, and I use that term loosely, was not someone that I was comfortable dealing with. It took me all my time to keep my tongue in check I got the impression that he had already made his mind up that I was just a complaining old git. Any explanations given were done with a tone that to me was dismissive and condescending. I should have reminded him that I am one of many that contribute to his wages each week. I was not looking for a fight but a solution.
When you have a problem that needs resolving a little empathy and understanding is needed when you deal with one of your customers. After all it’s not the customers fault that the dogs are barking. I got given the whole process about why we need a diary and how we can go to court and blah blah blah. I don’t want to take anybody to court, I just want some peace and quiet. Funnily enough next door was very quiet today, maybe my friend that called me knows my next door neighbour and gave them the heads up, either way it was very pleasant to have a quiet morning.
As I told your esteemed colleague, keeping a diary is just stupid because they can be fabricated, it’s not difficult to write down a whole bunch of times and dates when you know your neighbour is out…………a diary is no proof. All I ask is for the council to send out a letter to the dog owners, maybe contact the neighbours in the street for comment. run a campaign on the next rates notice to highlight the problem. And in regards to the letter below, the dog is big and black and I have no idea who lives there or how many or what ethnicity and to ask if there is any substance abuse is just ludicrous………in this day and age where you get sued for looking at someone the wrong way so you think anyone will answer that question seriously.
Oh I also got the story about how your systems were updated and could not find any previous complaints, an old one but a good one. One of the dogs is the same dog that I have complained about before. I even notified the council that they had four dogs at one stage and this was done before I left in 2016 to go overseas. This problem with 20A has been going on for years and the only reason my tenants that were in my house made no complaints was because they had two dogs.
I hope that you may look at a better solution to dog barking in general. There are many dogs in this neighbourhood that are a nuisance, three happen to be near me. I just don’t think it’s fair that the rest of the community need to suffer and when we ask for help to address the situation you are made to feel like you are the problem.
Regards
Not sure what kind of response I’ll get but I’m sure someone will have a chuckle when they read it 🙂