“Neighbors Letting Their Dogs Roam Free – At Wit’s End”

“Dear PoPville,

Whenever my neighbor wants to walk their dogs, they just open up their fenced back yard and allow their dogs to roam freely down the alley behind our houses. The dogs frequently come into my yard and do their business. My home video cameras have captured this multiple times (13 to date). I have talked with them, written them two letters, and sent them a care package of a leash, two collars, and doggie bags, as seen in the attached photo. They keep refusing to leash their animals, and I keep ending up with messes in my backyard.

Also, we live just off Georgia Avenue, and there’s every chance that one of the dogs will chase a squirrel into the street, to a tragic end. I’ve owned dogs in the past, and I understand that the leash laws are there to protect the animals just as much as the people who come in contact with them.

This afternoon, I got a notification from my camera and saw that the dogs had been in my yard again earlier in the afternoon. Finally fed up, I called DC Animal Control’s 24-hour number (202-576-6664) to file a complaint. However, the operator said because the dogs were not currently out, they couldn’t do anything. I was told that in order to enforce the law, they needed to respond when the animals were actually running loose, and that my video was not acceptable after the fact. However, since the neighbor is just a few houses down, the dogs are back in the yard about 10 minutes after I notice them, a window too narrow for the police to make it over to my house and catch them in the act. The operator also said that if we call the police directly to file a complaint, then I can expect the police to just tell me to call Animal Control.

This really seems absurd that 13 saved videos can’t be used to initiate a complaint, when my neighbor is clearly breaking the law. Do you or any of your readers have experience dealing with Animal Control in this situation, or any ideas about what else I can do?”