Who let the dogs shout

This week the New York Daily News brings us the story of two Upper East Side dachshunds with the honor of bringing home the most animal noise citations of any household in the city last year.  After being warned, the pups’ owner had to cough up a total of $245 for the citations—and no word of what their tally might be so far in 2010.

Interestingly, the “most animal noise citations” for these dogs came to a grand total of: two citations!  Last year, the city Department of Environmental Protection issued only 22 citations for animal noise citywide, despite logging over 5,900 animal noise complaints to 311 that precipitated over 1,200 inspections.

Updated and expanded in 2007, section 24-235 of the New York City Noise Control Code prohibits owners from allowing animal noise to be “plainly audible” in another residence for more than 10 continuous minutes between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and more than 5 continuous minutes between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.  Of course, for a citation to be issued, a DEP inspector needs to be present and witness the 5 or 10 minutes of continuous barking in person, which may explain the disparity between the number of inspections and actual citations: never a barking dog when you need one!

[via Gothamist]

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