Noise Pollution and Barking Dogs In Norman, Oklahoma

[howe5529]

take the owner to civil court , i took my neighbors and i won.

[MichaelPhillipWright]

Yesterday an animal control officer actually did write a citation against the owner of this nuisance. When that happens the prosecutor is far more likely to take the owner to court instead of suggesting "mediation." The dog was barking at the time, and the animal control officer heard it and saw it. We'll see what happens next. In the yard just east of this one there are two barking nuisances kept in a small pen in the back yard.

[Murgertroy]

tell all this to a judge. what's wrong with you people. i went through the same as you for 2 years i started with asking the neighbors kindly (this never works), then animal control, cops ,mayor, these didn't work i fasted and i prayed and it came to me ,take them to civil court i did and i won. what a relief. but you will continue in your torment until you take legal action

[MichaelPhillipWright]

Read my reply to howe5529.

[RalphRacoon]

What did you win exactly? Money or silence? I think in a higher court you can win an injunction but you'd probably need a lawyer.

[hamburga010]

people who have dogs that bark too much......are the worst scum on the planet.

[studiocity11]

IT DOESNT MATTER IF YOU DO SPEAK TO THE OWNERS. I Spoke to the owners of the dogs who wake up our family everyday and bark all day. First they sounded like they would do something but what they do is blow you off with a smile and hope you change your mind. 7 months later I confronted the same person but this time I was mad and crazy from lack of sleep. They said how can you speak to me like that LOL. It was actually very easy and felt AMAZING.

[Zeldafanatic1]

Right on.

When did dogs gain more rights than people.

If people have dogs constantly barking they should take measures to discourage barking.

If that fails or they refuse to do it they they should have there dogs removed.

[GDR352]

I knew Mike Wright more than 30 years ago when I lived in Norman. Hey, Mike, you were always a politically savvy guy, why not sponsor an updated noise ordinance for the City of Norman? Or get the neighbors to keep the dog in the house? If all else fails, try using those little foam earplugs that they sell at any drug store. I've used them at night to screen out barking dogs, car alarms, etc. and they work very well. Good luck, and if you see Vicki Monks tell her I said 'hi.'

- Jerry Redmond

[MichaelPhillipWright]

I think I do remember you but I'd have to see a photo of you from those days to make sure. The Norman noise ordinance is OK as it is but enforcement is pathetically weak.

[rubantin]

I lived in Claremore for 3 years and had a similar p[roblem. The only thing I can say is... Go to the SPCA and find the biggest, loudest, most disturbed dog. Tie him as close to the neighbors property as possible.

[MichaelPhillipWright]

I can relate to your difficult experience. The only problem with your suggestion is that I would have to hear the pest too.

[soccer22champ]

complain about the noise during football home game days coming from the stadium. I don't know if you realize this but 85,000 people come from all over the state to come watch and cheer for their beloved Sooners with thousands watching on TV. It's something to be proud and something to flaunt and cheer about. Some of the things you complain about in your videos are pointless rants of little picky things and all you're doing is making mountains out of mole hills. Stop complaining!

[MichaelPhillipWright]

You OU football fans are so tyrannical. Who are you to order me to "stop complaining"? You also don't know what you're talking about. Although I don't like it, in none of my videos have I denounced the noise from football fans. It's something I learned to tolerate a long time ago. I have denounced (1) the booming commencement fireworks show, (2) blasting noise from the stadium P.A. system when there are no events there in progress, and (3)Boren's lie claiming that Gaylord paid for the stadium.

[GDR352]

Hi Mike...yes, I remember well the football fanaticism at OU when I lived there from 1967 to 1977. Football Saturday: all roads are converted to one-way into town before THE BIG GAME; then one-way out of town afterward; cars are parked on every front lawn within ten blocks of the stadium; streets are empty during game, like ghost town; everyone wearing red head-to-toe. And if OU loses you are expected to go into a suicidal depression. I see nothing has changed.

- Jerry Redmond (remember me?)

[MichaelPhillipWright]

Things have changed. They've gotten worse. Remember that nice historic neighborhood across from the stadium? OU's fathead president, politician David Boren, had it bulldozed in 2002 to make way for a huge stadium expansion. See my video exposing Boren's lie claiming that his pal Gaylord paid for the stadium.

[soccer22champ]

I have seen most your of your videos about OU, President Boren and the city of Norman and instead of leaving a post on all of them I have decided to leave on comment dealing with all the videos. You sit here in your videos and say how the students at OU are "meatheads" then turn around and say they are being bothered by the noise nuisance. Are you crazy? I would love for you to find 20 students, between the age of 18-24, that complain about the noise of the campus. It won't happen. Then you...

[MichaelPhillipWright]

The noise-lover soccer22champ has challenged me to find 20 OU students who complain about noise. I invite this noise-lover to see my text box accompanying this video and click on the links at the top. Readers will have to scroll down the webpages to see some of the items. The noise-lover says I call OU students "meatheads." I only call them meatheads if they love noise and denounce me for defending a quiet educational atmosphere. If the shoe fits, the meatheads will wear it.

[princekrie]

So i am guessing you want people to lock their dogs in the house all day? or put muzzles on them at all times? well if we did that then our dogs would soil in our homes and if we put muzzles on them then they would not be able to drink.

[MichaelPhillipWright]

"So I am guessing you" are the irresponsible owner of a barking dog nuisance?

[princekrie]

My dark dosent bark at night because i bring her inside to sleep. she does how ever bark some outside while playing with the one from next door. but they just puppies. and if you think of that as a nuisance then you might as well call children playing outside a "nuisance" seeing how they are also loude when they play.

[MichaelPhillipWright]

It's good that you bring your dog inside at night. That makes you one notch above irresponsible dog owners who leave them outside. Stop putting words in my mouth. I have never said that children playing outside are nuisances.

[princekrie]

lol thanks and sorry. what i ment was that IF you saw dogs playing and makeing noise as a such then the same for children. i didnt word it correctly. and i can see why you are upset, all that noise at that time is truly unessesary. so i see where you are comeing from. and i hope they do something about that.

[RalphRacoon]

Why would children equate to dog barking. Dog barking is loud, rapid, redundant and irritating. There is no comparison. Not unless your talking about a child that would be left tied outside until it starts screaming all the time from the torture and neglect.

[RalphRacoon]

Then get rid of your dog if you can't figure out how to keep it quiet without soiling your home. Otherwise, you're creating a public nuisance and no judge is going to be motivated by your lame, irresponsible excuses. And here's a little tip about dogs. They need to be walked so they don't soil your home. You should have thought about that before you bought it.

[Stumoo]

I lived in Norman for a year, studying. Yep, it was pretty noisy but it was mostly my neighbours - I was living in traditions west. I don't mind my fellow student partying once in a while though, but the noise on game days was insane. I don't get the furore over college football anyway, but that's probably because I'm English!

[Stumoo]

I studied in Norman for a year. Damn was it noisy.

[NoisyExhaust]

Hi Michael, I live near London,England,UK - I sympathize & fully agree with ALL you have said relating to this issue, see my video, and the LACK of action by the authorities, it is exactly the same here they do nothing whatsoever to help - threaten to take them to court is the only way to get them to do something. In England the Police, Government and Local Council Authorities are so dreadful at resolving these issues i have almost given up - they are a waste of space. Regards - NoisyExhaust.

[MichaelPhillipWright]

Is there a PETA organization (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) in England? In the USA, PETA is campaigning for laws prohibiting the cruel practice of anchoring dogs to the ground with chains or leashes. In my experience, some of the worst barking nuisances are dogs which have been treated this way.

[mcrage81]

I appreciate this video because i can very much relate..and don't want to get cancer or ulcers over the obnoxious dog next my window all just because the owner refuses to do anything about it. I will be posting a log of videos about this soon.

[PeiPeisMom]

I am praying for Norman to get with it. Dog owners should take note: at NO time during the day is it okay for a dog to be outside barking. NO time. Period.

I wish I could recommend another place for you to live, but all my life I've had this same problem--6 different cities all over the west coast. People are inconsiderate and selfish. I'm so sorry, and I can relate.

[blimprue]

I need ask but one question: How considerate can a country's inhabitants be, when they are more concerned about the price of gasoline than the endless killing in Iraq?

Any limitations whatsoever on these noisy activities they regard as a personal affront to their liberty. That this activity could conflict with your right to reasonable peace, and should be curtailed to maximize everyones best interest, is communism to them. Seriously...

[rondebom]

I wonder if the dog is barking AT YOU because he is fearful or upset by you following him? If not what time of night is it? My dog will bark at the man next door because he walks outside only when my dog is out and just stand there and that seems to freak my dog out.

[MichaelPhillipWright]

You are the typical owner of a barking dog nuisance. Your neighbor has a perfect right to stand in his front yard as long as he wants. Your dog is a nuisance for barking at him at these times. The dogs whose nuisance noise I have recorded bark day and night regardless of whether I'm in my house or in the yard. I do not "follow" these dogs. I stood on my back porch, at least 30 feet away from the closest one, and made this video. Quit making excuses for your neglect of your responsibilities.

[NoisyExhaust]

Michael, i agree with you totally here - The anti-social moronic dog-owners i have to put up with as "neighbours" is beyond belief, the stupid comment by "rondeborn" above is typical of the irresponsible selfish scum that some of these people are. i say "People 1st irresponsible dog-owners last"!

[johnkongaroo]

its not only in norman.. here in miami, i live next door to some inconsiderate scum who have two useless dogs barking at (get this) nothing! so i went to sports authority and got myself a blowhorn, and let me just say that i finally got their attention.. they came outside and actually talked to me after 7 months of their loser dogs irritating my life and boy did i go off.. i even told them i'd pay the measly 150 bucks to train those useless things so long as i can have some peace.

[a1mint]

MichaelPhillipWright: have you tried a bark controlling device. There is this little gadget that activates a high pitched sound that humans can't hear, triggered by a barking sound. The idea is that the dog gets punished for barking for no reason.

[MichaelPhillipWright]

Thank you for the suggestion, but you missed the point. The barking nuisance is not my dog. I don't own a dog. It's my neighbor's dog and just east of that yard there is another barking nuisance. I have obtained expert opinion on the question as to why dogs bark. The answer can be summed up in one word: neglect. The dogs are often left 24 hours a day in the back yard. They feel abandoned by their owners and express their anxiety be becoming nuisance barkers.

[a1mint]

Those devices work up to 75 feet away.

But how about offering to take care of the dog, or letting the dog visit you, or them letting you in their backyard when they're away.

[a1mint]

I'm just about to fucking strangle my neighbor's goddamn toy poodle. Every time I'm out there he comes running towards the fence and protests my presence. Fuck that goddamn piece of shit - and its owner's too. People that have those types of dogs are fucked in the head.

[kburch85]

I would beat my dog within an inch of its life. I know that sounds cruel to say, but barking dogs (to this extreme) are just a sign of irresponsible owners (oh wow, as you just stated). My dog does know better...

I do live in an apartment complex in OKC, so I'm pretty lucky. The little dog downstairs only barks during the day...

Good luck....and I will lend you my shotgun if applying pressure fails and you still have to listen to this dog. :)

[aprilialane]

I moved from Illinois from where everyone had their dogs in at night,,I now live in union county NC south of Charlotte,,this is the pit of hell of dogs barking day and night.

[MichaelPhillipWright]

Does income level have anything to do with it? Was the neighborhood in Illinois more affluent? Or do people there just have better manners? In Norman, I once lived in a small rental property where my front yard bordered the back yard of a large house, around the corner, owned by a wealthy widow. She had a huge loud barking nuisance there. Sometimes she would bring in a couple of other nuisances apparently owned by friends or relatives. Regardless of how much money she had, she was trash.

[oklahomaisok]

I lived in rural east Norman about 35 years ago. We had a neighbor who had about 120 dogs plus a variety of other animals, they lived on a few acres. I had insomnia for a few years, each time a car would drive down the road the dogs would start barking and this happened throughout the night. I don't know what to tell you, maybe some white noise would help.

[MichaelPhillipWright]

If you have this problem again somewhere, investigate the local kennel law. In Norman it is illegal to have more than two dogs (unless it is a recent mother with pups) without a kennel license.

[oklahomaisok]

Yes, i understand the law. That was 35 years ago, and since it was a rural area (inside the city limits, though) it took several years before the city got involved and that was after a police officer moved into the area. Animal control rounded up 35 dogs that showed signs of mange or other disease and loaded them in the truck. He estimated around 120 dogs total. The family moved that week and took the remaining animals with them.

[WaltGe]

Delta Township in Michigan is another place that does not deserve your hard earned dollar as they never enforce the noise laws here either. We live in an apartment complex next to a township park and the noise from the park is intolerable during the summer months, mainly from concerts and boom car boys and girls. There are also several that live in our building. The common excuse is that this noise is everywhere, but if people took action, the noise would be history.

[harr7959]

Why is it that you are such a turd you cannot take people posting negative comments about your videos? If you ever video tape me talking on my phone you will regret it. Stop being such a creep dude. Are you even a student at OU? I am going to file a complaint about you with the University, I fear you may be a hazard to those of us trying to get an education and not whine about EVERYTHING. You weirdo. Go away.

[barrett0704]

Leave Michael alone, he isn't doing anything illegal. Additionally, you should think about the harsh words you choose to use when describing people, it's just bad karma.

[abbalabba24]

Michael,

I TOTALLY understand how you feel, we are in a battle with our next door neighbors as well, and as of yet, we have had no help from animal control or police, they simply say we have to deal with it. Your documentation is amazingly well done, I think you should take your case to court if possible. That dog should be taken away from those owners. It never ceases to surprise me how owners can be so negligent, rude, inconsiderate to others. I truly hope you can solve this soon, somehow!

[boeyman]

Michael, your video is wonderfully done. All your documentation, narration backed by the sound/video of barking dog is extremely effective. I hope you get the attention of your city council. You deserve some peace. Well done!

[gtbmel]

"Animated Lawn Ornaments" - that sums it up. I was lucky enough to sell my house located next to back yard dog breeders. I tried to call the police but it is all but impossible to get any help if your neighbors choose to have barking dogs. The new owners have dogs too so maybe they will enjoy each other. I say tax the hell out of dog owners and put some difficult requirements on them with fines, prison, confiscation, and bans on future ownership as penalities for bad dog owners.

[candacecnde]

OH MY GOODNESS! I couldn't even concentrate enough to listen to you speak - how did you convey your message so eloquently with a barking dog in the background. I am so sorry. Why doesn't Norman have any enforceable laws? I, too, work from home with three barking dogs next to me. Concentration is a requirement for the work I do and it is a struggle! You need a series of these videos covering all the different negative ramifications of BARKING ASSAULT. Cheers to you for a wonderful video!!!

[MichaelPhillipWright]

Thank you for your comment. I rehearsed my narration before making the video. I used a returnable $32 camera from CVS. At the "related videos" column you'll see that others have documented the barking dog nuisances, so I encourage you to do the same.

[MichaelPhillipWright]

FROM MICHAEL WRIGHT:

All friendly comments from viewers will be approved. I require approval so I can screen out hateful comments from irresponsible dog owners.

[11crapola]

Hey, city of Norman work on your bylaws! Michael is right. I'm in Canada and we have our share of noisey, inconsiderate slobs too and appears that NO ONE in either of our countries wants to stand up to these self involved crapheads. If a certain self entitled segment of our society feels that they have the right to make as much noise as they want, then go live in isolation where we can't hear you.

[greenlightbandit]

good job mike

[groens]

poor dog-- he looks so bored & neglected! the way he was running around that tree was pitiful, looked like he is on a chain? i emailed you re: anti-chaining laws that are popping up-- we have an anti-tethering law here in texas, unfortunately noone really knows about it since they didn't broadcast the law-- but the cops will write tickets to owners who sentence dogs to lifelong neglect on the end of a chain. we still have the idiots booming their bass at all hours-- glad i don't have a gun!

[MichaelPhillipWright]

The dog is definitely tethered to the ground. Dogs who are left alone out in the back yard and anchored to the ground like that are the worst barking nuisances. People who do that to dogs should not be allowed to own them. They are being cruel to the dogs and cruel to their neighbors.

[boeyman]

It's true, and this is effectively illustrated in your video. One can see the dog spinning around, biting the tether, even playfully at one point. He's bored, he's confined, he's deprived of attention. This is an unhappy dog trying to get the attention of his owners. Unfortunately the only attention he seems to be getting is from a sleep-deprived neighbor without any ability to untether him. It's a sad story, all the way around.

[Lasershoppe]

It is tragic that these people just leave their dog out there all night. The dog is no doubt cold, hungry, and/or thirsty. He is trying to get attention so that someone will accommodate his needs. He is also probably bored and worried. Dogs can even develop compulsive behavioral disorders (example: excessive barking) because owners abandon them for so long a period. This is very cruel to the dog and inconsiderate of the neighbors.