Dogs/neighbors, A crappy situation.

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

My friend lives a few streets over and she's been having a lot of problems with her neighbors and their dogs. First the neighbors were walking their dogs through her drive way. She spoke to them more then once telling them to stop and after speaking to them even caught them running off from the driveway once they saw her coming. She doesn't have a problem with them or dogs and didn't want to cause any. But also didn't want the smell and stains of urine and her land lord might assume one of them has a dog when none of them do as it is private property.
Now someone is throwing bags of dog crap into her drive way. Though she has an idea of a few it could be, with so many dogs now in the area she isn't 100% sure. There are also a few apartment buildings around and she isn't exactly sure of the exact apartment IF it is one of them. There are a few other suspects in the neighborhood as well. What if anything could she do about this? She was going to call Animal control but doesn't want to call on the wrong person. Should she report it anyways?
Thanks for any advice I can pass onto her.

Comments

assuming it is not innocent and that the bag of poo fell out of the owner's hands accidentally...

[haptotrope.livejournal.com]

I noticed that there was a "animal problems" link on the Somerville 311 site.

http://citizen.somervillema.intelligovsoftware.com/Default.aspx?reason=1&ReturnUrl=%2fcitizenMenu.aspx

You can also post it as private property/no trespassing, and call the police when someone shows up.

Re: assuming it is not innocent and that the bag of poo fell out of the owner's hands accidentally..

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

or setup a webcam, and post a sign about this property is under camera control (but don't do audio - no no no). then you'll have nice pictures to show.

or setup a nice lawn chair, get a book, and make a habit of reading out there :) bring a camera.

#

Re: assuming it is not innocent and that the bag of poo fell out of the owner's hands accidentally..

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

This (first sentence, that is).

Re: assuming it is not innocent and that the bag of poo fell out of the owner's hands accidentally..

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

I'm not sitting out in her driveway, she can do that, lol.

This poop tossing has been going on since the fall.
She sits outside on the steps sometimes but they just don't go through. I remember her saying last year about how they know better then to go through when she's out there. They're pretty sly about it. I told her last year to keep an eye out, after she smelled and saw the urine. She did catch them more then once and spoke to them which didn't stop them the first time. Then seeing them run from the driveway every time they saw her coming, lol.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Walking their dogs...through her driveway? Like, back towards her back yard (if any)? Or just across the driveway right where the sidewalk goes?

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

It's hard o explain. The driveway is long and opens on the other side. They walked straight through. But she says she hasn't seen that happen for a while now. So we're assuming that might have ended. The issue now is the bags of poop in the driveway. Deep in the driveway no wear near the side walk.

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

The next time a bag of dog crap shows up on the driveway, your friend should not touch it, they should call the police. They should report that it is there, that it is untouched, and that this has been happening regularly since she complained to her neighbor about their behavior with their dogs. Let the police deal with it; they can fingerprint the bag. I'm sure the police can come up with various criminal charges for someone leaving bags of crap on other people's driveways. (Littering, trespassing, failure to clean up after your dog, improper disposal of sewage, leaving garbage outside without putting it in a covered garbage can...) Your friend shouldn't have to do all the work of catching the criminal, that's what police are for.

Meanwhile, since she's worried about what her landlord will think, she should also call her landlord NOW and inform them of what has been going on, inform them that if a bag of dog crap appears again she will be calling the police, and make sure they understand that she just wants them to be aware of the problem, she's not asking them to do anything. The best way to ensure that the landlord doesn't get weird ideas is to keep them informed.

[narya.livejournal.com]

Yes, this.

[tamalinn.livejournal.com]

iawtc.

[etana.livejournal.com]

Not to be a downer but the police likely won't fingerprint a bag of dog poop - CSI is not real. There isn't a whole lot law enforcement can do in this situation aside from frown and offer to toss the poop and take a picture for you.
Maybe you'll get a cursory report written but they aren't going to sit out there on a lawn chair any more than your friend is.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

they can fingerprint the bag.

...

I think you labor under a misapprehension as to how the police would handle a situation like this.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

(I live in Medford) I had a problem with a neighbor a while back, who told me that she was going to call the cops/animal control if my dog WALKED ON HER SIDEWALK or even on the STREET IN FRONT OF HER HOUSE. She screamed at me that my dog's poo could be eaten by her young child (er, 6-8 years old?) and she was going to get the police to enforce the law. So I called Animal Control to find out the rules/laws in that regard.

There is essentially nothing that they can do about dogs walking in the driveway, unless people are using the person's yard as a pass-through. Driveways (and sidewalks) are considered areas that the public is allowed on. Dogs can legally walk, and poo and pee, on lawns up to 8 feet (the longest legal leash) away from the sidewalk/driveway. Basically, the person stands on the driveway/sidewalk and holds the 8 foot leash, and the dog can wander where he/she can. If the dog poos, the owner is obligated to clean it up to the best of their ability. Dog pee cannot be cleaned up, therefore the solution is "too bad for the owners of the property that gets peed upon".

Thus it becomes a social issue. The more a person bitches about dogs on "their" property, the more a dog owner is likely to allow their dog to defecate there. In essence, you're screwing yourself by screaming to the dog owners. If you don't want the dogs on your lawn, put up a fence around your property (including the driveway): Animal Control told me if there's a fence there the property owner has more rights because it would show the dog walker is going out of their way to put the dog into that yard. However, a person with a dog can walk up to your front door with the dog, because if you have a front walk that allows strangers to knock on your door, you can't say that dogs can't go there either.

About the dog crap: that's littering. However, have you ever seen the police fingerprint a cigarette butt or a candy wrapper to find out who littered? no. They are similarily not going to fingerprint a filled poo bag. Be realistic here. It's a social/neighbor issue, the police aren't your mommies who tell people to play nice together. Noone's life is at stake because of some litter on the driveway. Noone has had something stolen from them. If it's a matter of trespassing, a law has been broken, but you need real evidence of the actual trespass and all the cops are likely to do is to make suggestions as to what the homeowner/tenant can do to curtail the tresspass before they give a verbal warning to the offender. They have more serious things to do (like eat donuts at Dunkin' Donuts).

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

All of that said, it sounds as though Medford and Somerville differ here: the longest legal dog leash length in S'ville is six feet.

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

i disagree about calling the poo bag "litter". if an animal owner is obligated to clean it up when their dog poos on someone's property, then they shouldn't be placing it there deliberately.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Useful stuff, though some of these rules may vary by city. It'd be great if someone could post the relevant laws for Somerville.

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

You obviously didn't read what I wrote. Reread it. She rents.
Her driveway is pretty much a yard too. They use it to pass through. The driveway is a lot longer then 8 feet. Again, it's not the walking as that doesn't seem to be an issue anymore. At least from what we know. It's the poop dropping.

Nobody said she screamed at them. She is not that type of person. If someone yells you nicely to stop what you're doing on private property but you continue to do it out of spite that is pure immaturity.

I wasn't the one who brought up finger printing, but a bag of smelly crap is A LOT different then a candy wrapper.

Again, please read what I'm typing before going off.

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

A cigarette butt on the sidewalk is rudeness.

Weekly bags of dog crap on your driveway is harassment.

If you can't discern the difference between the two, you shouldn't go out in public unsupervised.

If the police can't be bothered to investigate people throwing bags of dog crap on other people's property on a regular basis, we should be asking our aldermen what we're paying the police for.

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

"The more a person bitches about dogs on "their" property, the more a dog owner is likely to allow their dog to defecate there."

This is passive-aggressive BS. Somebody has a problem with your dog, stay the f*ck away from them. How hard is that?

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

That really sucks. Up in northeast Teele Sq we have a rogue pooper who leaves (unbagged) presents all over the place. I've talked to folks who have strong suspicions, but nobody seems to know for sure.

There is a special place in hell for irresponsible dog owners.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

THIS.

Pets are people. Their concerns are not different from ours in nature, only in magnitude.

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

It seems quite a few are having issues with irresponsible dog owners.
I definitely agree that there is a place in hell for them.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

you kids get off my lawn! :)

#

Place a motion-activated camera

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

pointing at that location. Then post the video of the perpetrator online.

Stakeout

[tequilamckngbrd.livejournal.com]

When I was a teenager, I had a similar situation happen at one of my friend's house. Someone with a grudge kept throwing bags of shit on his lawn. We planned a whole week stakeout (it only took two days, but we planned a whole week), and saw the person throwing the bag. It was someone we knew from school. We followed him home from school to find out where he lived.

My friend saved all the bags of shit we could muster, and went to this guy's place and forced open his car window and tore open the bags of shit and threw it everywhere inside his car.

If you let people shit on you without doing anything back, they'll keep doing it. If you shit on them back, they'll figure it's not worth it, and stop doing it. If they shit back harder and catch them in the act, take them to court.

As long as you prepare right, you'll win.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

tell your friend she shouldn't have voted No on question three. dogs don't f*ck around.