Rosenbaum Dogs

This is completely unrelated to Paris

The Original Desert Sun Story

James Rosenbaum is in the doghouse.

At least he will be if the city gets its way.

Rosenbaum owns four German shepherds -- the maximum number of dogs allowed per home in the city -- that some neighbors say bark too much.

Now Rosenbaum may have his dogs taken away from him.

The city and animal control, which is provided to the city through California Animal Care in Cathedral City, had a nuisance abatement hearing on the matter last week. The independent hearing officer, who was appointed by the California State Bar Association, is expected to make a decision sometime next week.

City Attorney John Cook said the barking problems at Rosenbaum's home have been going on for years.

"He's been cited several times and it wasn't coming to a resolution," Cook said.

The problems led to an ordinance, unanimously passed last September, restricting a dog's barking, whining or howling time to 15 minutes in any given hour, unless there are trespassers or the dog is being provoked.

But Rosenbaum maintains that his dogs only bark occasionally and when provoked.

"This ordinance is ridiculous," Rosenbaum said. "My remedy is that each dog should be furnished with a wristwatch."

Neighbor Irene Ordon, who said she has been complaining about the dogs for five years, disagrees.

"I'd like to move rather than have to deal with this, but I'd have to disclose to anyone who wanted to buy the house about the dogs," Ordon said.

Last week, Rosenbaum wore a T-shirt with a picture of a German shepherd on the front as he studied the many pictures of Hans, Heidi, Max and Valva that hang on the wall in his office.

"They're the most valuable, precious things I own," he said. "I'll do whatever is necessary to keep these dogs, including moving away," he said.

Berkeley resident Mary Randolph, author of "Dog Law," considers herself an expert on laws that affect dog owners.

While she said she's never seen a nuisance issue go this far, she believes the city does have a right to take the dogs as a last resort.

"It all depends on the circumstances," she said. "The problem is that your rights end at your property line. If your neighbors are being bothered by four large dogs, then there has to be a limit."

However, David Peire, a former California humane officer and Cathedral City-based dog trainer, said the limit lies with the city.

"What they're doing is overkill," he said of the city.

"But taking the things he loves -- that's cruel," he said. "Dogs are like kids."

Ordon, who has two new puppies herself, said it's just a matter of respecting your neighbors.

"I don't wish him or his dogs any harm, I just want him to be a good neighbor," she said.

Peire said there are devices dog owners can buy online that eliminate barking, but most of them are not available at pet stores.

The Bark Eliminator is a plug-in device that sits atop a fence. It emits a sound that dogs don't want to bark at, he said.

Bark collars also are available that electrically stimulate the dog after three minutes of barking, Peire said.

The Desert Sun Opinion Page

At the time, it seemed funny.

In some respects it still is -- an ordinance that restricts a dog's barking, whining or howling time to 15 minutes in any given hour.

But that's life in Indian Wells, an affluent, community of 3,777. The law won unanimous support from the City Council last September.

It seemed rather silly -- even impossible -- to legislate how long a dog can bark. That is, after all, what dogs do. At the time, it seemed downright unneighborly.

Now, nearly a year later, the law still makes great fodder at the morning coffee klatches. It makes no more sense today than it did a year ago.

The fact remains, however, that a law does exist and residents are expected to abide by it. If not, they must prepare to pay the consequences.

James Rosenbaum, owner of four German shepherds, may lose his companions because he has allegedly failed to comply with the ordinance.

City Attorney John Cook said the barking problem at Rosenbaum's home has been going on for years.

"He's been cited several times and it wasn't coming to a resolution," Cook said.

Now the whole issue is tied up in a legal process that involves an independent hearing officer, appointed by the California State Bar Association.

Residents may not like the law prohibiting barking dogs, but until it's rescinded or found to be unconstitutional or unenforceable, residents must obey the law.

If everyone got to pick and choose which laws they wanted to live by, chaos would reign supreme.

Letters to the Editor

Make Dogs Hush

The very idea that any city should not protect its residents from barking dogs is ludicrous. Barking dogs should not disrupt the peace and quiet of any neighborhood.

In Omaha, Neb., years ago, our neighbor had only one dog that barked continuously from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. every morning. Their neighbor on one side had a nervous breakdown after a very friendly request to the neighbor to keep the dog in the house in the early morning hours. The situation did not change, and eventually, they had to move.

I handled it differently.

I called the City of Omaha and reported the neighbor as his dog was waking my three young sons, ages 2 through 8 and caused them to cry each day at 5 a.m.

Results? After warning the neighbor of the disruption of our family's peace and quiet, the dog was impounded.

Why should anybody have their home life destroyed by a neighbor's dog?

By the way, we also had a dog which we loved dearly, but he was trained and bothered no one. This law is necessary for every community no matter where it's located.

Ruth Chamberlin
Palm Desert

Barking Dogs Can Be Big Nuisances

This is in reference to the Aug. 23 editorial, "Pay heed, even to ludicrous laws."

You owe the public an apology. For more than a year I lived next door to an apartment complex; the apartment next to my home had two dogs in a patio. These dogs were left in the patio 24 hours a day.

Every night starting about 11 p.m. they would bark and bark and bark. This went on for hours. I called animal control many times, but the barking continued. I did the neighborly thing and walked over and talked to them about it. Still, it continued.

Finally one day at 1 a.m., I called the Palm Springs Police Department. They sent an officer. He came, heard the barking, went next door, and I have never had the problem again.

I wonder how many people are having this problem now, and are saying oh, it's OK, The Desert Sun is on our side.

Believe me when I say, unless you have had this problem, even to the extent of moving, you cannot imagine what it is like.
I love animals. I have a dog, but if you are a pet owner and let that pet disturb your neighbors, you have no respect for them or anyone else.

If you ever had this problem, you would not call this law ludicrous, you would call it a godsend.

Bill Minamyer
Palm Springs

Barking Dogs No Laughing Matter

I was appalled by your Aug. 23 editorial “Pay heed, even to ludicrous laws,” “Barking dog ordinance may be comical, but it is the law.” You seem to think this whole affair about barking dogs is funny.

Evidently, you have never lived near barking dogs. The owners of barking dogs apparently cannot hear them, however, the neighbors certainly can. They are very annoying. I don’t know which is worse, a small dog’s high pitched bark or a deep bark like a German shepherd. Nevertheless, both are terrible.

As you can see, I have experienced both. Fortunately, now, no barking dogs live nearby.

Most homeowners’ associations have rules against barking dogs. Many cities do also. So why shouldn’t Indian Wells? I am surprised that they have let this go on for five years.

Anyone living in Indian Wells should be able to afford to have his dogs trained not to bark all the time. If he doesn’t want to do that, then he should move to some isolated location where the barking doesn’t bother anyone. Horrors! I can’t imagine anything worse than living next door to someone with four barking German shepherds.

William Besse
Palm Desert

Shepherd Solution

I have read with concern the ongoing feud between the city of Indian Wells and James Rosenbaum’s German shepherd dogs.

I am a bit confused. Was it one dog barking for more than 15 minutes at a time or all the dogs? Did they identify what dog or dogs were in violation?

Some would have us believe that Rosenbaum has no regard for the law. But in fact, he is within the statutory limit in the number of dogs he can have in Indian Wells.

The German shepherd is not a moon howler. It seems to some of us that there is more to this story than we are being told. I do not agree that taking these dogs from Rosenbaum serves any legitimate purpose -- it would be a blatant abuse of authority.

The city must explore other, more creative remedies in resolving the issue. Certainly the law must be obeyed. But the law must be reasonable and administered fairly with due process.

Inasmuch as I would urge Rosenbaum to exercise every possible measure to manage the dogs barking he better not dare let anyone take these dogs from him.

Robert Pantanella

Palm Springs

Obnoxious Barking

I have just read your Our Voice opinion regarding the barking dogs in Indian Wells, and I assure you listening to a barking dog all day or all night is not comical or trivial.

You may call the law ludicrous, (apparently you take barking dog situations lightly) but if a dog owner will not train or control their dog, it is left up to the city to pass laws and enforce them.

We have the same problem here in Cathedral City, and there is an ordinance against this nuisance. We could not sit out in our back yard, use our pool, entertain guests on our patio, or try to sleep at night without the constant barking of our neighbor’s dog.

Talking to the dog owner did no good, and animal control is reluctant to enforce the law. Therefore, the job falls on the overworked police force which has other important things to do. At least Indian Wells is enforcing the law and I applaud it for doing so.

Nancy Single
Cathedral City

Squelch Screaming

Barking dogs? Let me enlighten you to my side of the fence. Five neighbors touch my boundaries. Letter writer Jack Griffin may well be my neighbor with the kids that yell, screech and scream all day. Has anybody suggested a time limit on the noise that penetrates my and my dogs’’ peace and quiet?

Has anybody suggested that animal control come take their kids? Kids are a responsibility too, and most pet owners take more responsibility for their pets than do most parents for their children.

Letter writer Ruth Chamberlin’’s kids should not disrupt the peace and quiet of any neighborhood any more than my dog. If letter writer Bill Minamyer’’s kids disturb his neighbors, he has no respect for them or anyone else any more than irresponsible pet owners.

Does anybody see these same kids hold a kitten above the fence, or wave a flag purposely over the top of the fence, or run up and bang on the fence -- all to tease, taunt and irritate him? Do they or their parents do anything about it if they do? No. All they hear is a dog barking.

If a dog is barking, it may be for a reason you know nothing about.

Randall E. Parker

Cathedral City

Dangers of Noise
I, too, had to move because of barking dogs. Two poodles were left by the front door of the condo next door every day to bark and shriek at everything they saw or heard. The noise they made sounded like they were being mutilated.

I called Animal Control who spoke to the owners but after two days, the dogs were at it again. We are besieged with noise everywhere we go. One of the most offensive aural attacks comes from the scratchy, too loud, completely unnecessary “atmosphere” tunes piped into every drug store, market, waiting room, office, clothing store, discount store, etc.

After escaping the noise inside, we are assaulted by the mega bass blasting out of cars going by or right next to us at a stop light. Kudos to Indio for tightening the noise ordinance; Palm Springs and Cathedral City need to do the same. Parents need to be warned about exposing babies and toddlers to this ridiculously high volume. Isn’’t it enough that we have construction noise, leaf blowers, noisy mufflers, garbage trucks, and traffic rumble going on constantly? Has anyone considered the effect this barrage of noise has on stress levels, health, and hearing?

Judy Bell
Rancho Mirage

The Decision

INDIAN WELLS -- According to some neighbors, a dog's bark is worse than its bite.

At least that's the case with James Rosenbaum's four German shepherds, who were found to be public nuisances by an independent hearing officer this week because they bark too much.

"The laws in Indian Wells are embarrassing," said Rosenbaum, who is enraged over the arbitrator's decision.
Attorney Thurman Arnold of Palm Springs, who was the arbitrator in the case, decided that Rosenbaum's male dogs, Max and Hans, will be removed by California Animal Care if nothing is being done to control the barking within 90 days. The two female dogs, Heidi and Valva, were not found to be nuisances.

The decision further requires Rosenbaum to hire a professional dog trainer to teach the dogs not to bark and use a bark collar or other anti-barking device in the training.

Also, Rosenbaum is not allowed to keep his dogs outside between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. unless supervised by an adult.

"I'm sympathetic to people and understand people's rights to complain about dogs that bark all the time," said Rosenbaum, who maintains that his dogs don't bark unless provoked. "But the facts in this case are distorted, and I consider this judgment to be irresponsible and unfair."

The city and animal control, which is provided to the city through California Animal Care in Cathedral City, had a nuisance abatement hearing on the matter a couple of weeks ago.

City Attorney John Cook, who is on vacation and could not be reached for comment, said in a previous interview that the barking problems at Rosenbaum's home have been going on for years.

"He's been cited several times, and it wasn't coming to a resolution," he said.

The problems led to an ordinance, unanimously passed in September 2000, restricting a dog's barking, whining or howling time to 15 minutes in any given hour, unless there are trespassers or the dog is being provoked.

In this case, Rosenbaum said the complaints come from a ruthless neighbor who wants him to leave.

Neighbor Irene Ordon, who said she has been complaining about the dogs for five years, said it boils down to respecting your neighbors.

"I don't wish him or his dogs any harm. I just want him to be a good neighbor," she said.

Rosenbaum said he's through trying to be neighborly. His house is up for sale, and he has bought a new ranch-style home on 4.5 acres of land. He wouldn't say what city it is in, but did say it wasn't in Indian Wells. He said he plans on moving within 30 days.

"I've lived in different states all over the country -- Florida, Ohio. And I can tell you, Indian Wells is highly overrated," he said.

"I can't tell you how good I feel about going away from here. My dogs will be able to live in comfort and peace."

The Final Solution - We Hope

What became of James Rosenbaum and his neighbor’s dispute about his dogs?

For four years, Irene Ordon has complained her neighbor James Rosenbaum’s four German shepherds bark continuously.

An Indian Wells ordinance restricts a dog’s barking, whining or howling time to 15 minutes in any given hour, unless there are trespassers or the dog is being provoked.

After dozens of calls to law enforcement and about five citations, the matter was taken to arbitration in August. The arbitrator ruled Rosenbaum had to prevent his dogs from barking or have them taken away.

Rosenbaum contends his dogs do not bark unless provoked.

To protect the four pets he sees as family, Rosenbaum’s current home is on the market. His new home in a new city closes escrow at the end of January.

Rosenbaum declined to disclose the location of his new home.

But in the wake of the arbitration’s outcome that gave Rosenbaum 90 days to solve the problem, he complied with the city.

Rosenbaum purchased bark collars, at $500 each, for his dogs and he has a trainer visit his home once a week.

However, his troubles continue. Rosenbaum said he is due back in court on Feb. 12 to face criminal charges for his barking dogs.

Rosenbaum sent a letter to the Indian Wells City Attorney John Cook and Ordon asking that the matter be dropped now that he is moving to a new area and has complied with the outcome of arbitration.

Rosenbaum said he hasn’t received any response from either party.