This Bark Has Bite Print
Thursday, April 30 2015

An Oregon couple has been awarded nearly $240,000 in damages after suing their neighbors because of their constantly barking dogs.
 
Dale and Debra Krein sued their neighbors, John Updegraff and Karen Szewc, for what they described was a decade of ceaseless barking by the defendants’ Tibetan mastiffs. According to news reports, the defendants started breeding the dogs at their home around 2002. The plaintiffs claimed the dogs would often begin barking at 5 a.m. and wouldn’t stop all day. Despite being cited by the Jackson County Animal Control in 2002 and 2004 for violating public nuisance codes, the barking continued. The Kreins sued.
 
In the lawsuit, defendants claimed their dogs were necessary to protect their livestock from predators. The court, however, found that the Tibetan mastiffs weren't ideally suited to be livestock guardians and ordered them debarked within 60 days or replaced with a more suitable breed.
 
Source: kgw.com (Portland, Oregon