Officers Called for Ongoing Dispute Over Barking Dog

The following is an excerpt from the Woburn Police Department log. Please note that this is a sampling of activity in the log, not a complete account.

Featured Incident

On Tuesday, Oct. 29, an officer was called to Merrimac Street for an ongoing dispute between neighbors.

The officer located the reporting party, who said his rear neighbor started yelling at him as soon as he pulled into the driveway. The caller said he was going to let his dog out and he wanted someone to witness the neighbor taunting his dog.

Police have been to the address in the past for previous disputes between the two neighbors. During the current incident, the officer went into the back yard, where all was quiet.

The resident let his dog out, it barked at a few people walking by and he was quiet for about five minutes. Then, the dog began barking at the rear neighbor's yard when he appeared to whistle at the animal. The dog barked again after several bangs came from the same neighbor's yard.

At that point, the neighbor started yelling, "Hey come get your (expletive) dog."

The officer spoke to the neighbor who denied taunting the dog. He said he whistled for his own dog that was running around, and said he opened and closed his porch door letting the dog in and out and was not banging at the dog.

In an effort to resolve the issue, the officer brought the neighbor to the reporting party's home to talk out the dispute. The men spoke about the issues, which are the caller's dog barking at all hours and the neighbor making threats.

Both were advised to try and keep the peace between them, and call police if the problem continues. The men were advised of their rights as they have been in the past.

In past calls, police have spoken to five abutting neighbors. Three of them reported no problems with the caller's dog and two reported excessive barking. Officers also spoke to the Animal Control Officer, who said he did not believe the dog to be a nuisance.