Calif. woman allegedly abducts dog over barking
Two days ago Associated Press provided a story about Spike, a white Maltese, who lived in Hemet, California. It seems Spike was a talkative Maltese who allegedly annoyed his neighbor often enough that the next door neighbor filed multiple noise complaints which escalated to court. During the civil court hearing, a Riverside County judge found that the barking dog claims were unfounded.
On Monday, Spike went missing. The article goes on to say that the neighbor was spotted taking the dog out of her trunk outside a water district building about 15 miles away, leaving Spike and driving away. The neighbor left only to return to remove the dog’s collar and was captured by a surveillance camera.
Two quick thinking water district workers were able to write down the license plate number, scoop up Spike and then they went to the vet. The vet used the tracking chip to identify the dog and Spike was unharmed. The owner was called and told that the vet had Spike. Spike returned home.
(Read the complete AP article here. See a video clip here.)
Dog ID Tags and Chips
I found this news interesting because I always advocate dogs wearing ID tags so they can be returned to their owners. I was surprised that the neighbor returned to remove the dog’s collar making it more difficult for the finders to locate the owners of Spike. The good news was, of course, that the dog was unharmed by the whole episode AND that it was the embedded chip that allowed the vet to be able to find the owner.
All dogs don’t have the chip so if your dog does, next time you’re at the vet ask them to scan. Make sure your dog is in the registry with current information. If not, find out from the vet on how to update the information. Ask if the chip can be read by a universal scanner. If your dog has no chip, consider getting one.
To learn more about micro chips for dogs, visit this HowStuffWorks article, How Pet Microchipping Works.
Neighbors and Barking Dogs
This was clearly a case of feuding neighbors who couldn’t reach some agreeable middle ground. That’s really too bad. Dogs bark, it’s natural for them to vocalize. Some dogs bark often to give a warning or signal an alert. Dogs bark when they play. Some dogs bark because they are lonely, bored or seeking attention.
People really need to figure out why the dog is barking excessively and then commit to slowly working on the bad behavior. More exercise to tire the dog, fun interactive toys to keep the brain going, slow behavior modification or even a pet sitter or dog walker to visit during the day are all things that could help the bored and lonely dogs left at home while we work. I suspect in this case that the owners probably tried to stop the barking but never followed through.
My dogs bark but mostly it’s Benny. I listen to their barks to try to figure out why they are barking. There’s the “Someone pulled in the driveway” bark, the “Doorbell” bark, the “Critter” bark, the “I wanna come in” bark and the “I see you there” bark which is what I consider the excessive bark. Benny will bark … bark … bark… constantly until you let him in with the “I wanna come in” bark. As a matter of fact, I hear the “I wanna come in” now bark. Pardon me while I go check. (He was at the back door with Digby. Both waiting to come in.)
I think the neighbor was definitely wrong to take matters into her own hands by dropping the dog off far away from home. Poor Spike! I also think Spike’s owners could have done more to help Spike with whatever was causing the alleged excessive barking.
I like to think that if I had a dog “issue” with one of my neighbors, that we could work things out without reports to authorities and court actions.
Our dogs are part of our family so when one is missing it’s extremely upsetting. Please make sure they have their ID tags on, check the chip and be a good neighbor!
