Montgomery officials seek a sound solution
By: Greg Forester
MONTGOMERY The township’s canine residents could soon be landing their owners in trouble with the law if they bark incessantly for set periods of time, according to animal control code revisions now under review.
New language that was considered last week would make dogs barking continuously for 10 minutes or more, or intermittently for 30 minutes, no longer man’s best friend, but a violator of the peace and quiet of Montgomery.
The revised law is going to be reviewed by a subcommittee and then presented to the Township Committee, officials said.
"There have been neighborhood disputes lately over dogs barking, and the need is clear the ordinance needs to be updated," said Mayor Cecilia Birge. "We are not asking dogs to not be dogs, but to set a reasonable limit so dogs’ needs are taken care of in a responsible way, and the neighborhood quality of life can be maintained and improved."
The current ordinance did make mention of dogs disturbing the peace through barking, howling, or crying, but there were no quantitative aspects to barking.
This situation created an incident in municipal court where a judge had to throw out a barking complaint because there was no measurable limit to qualify the barking as disturbing the peace, according to Committeeman John Warms.
"There was nothing in the ordinance that has any teeth for a judge to hang his hat on and find somebody guilty," he said.
The revisions make the amount of barking constituting an offense quantifiable, calling "continuous barking" an average of four "vocalizations" per minute, and "intermittent barking" over a 30-minute period an average of two "vocalizations" a minute.
The proposed revisions to Montgomery’s ordinance are not new in New Jersey.
Parts of the revisions presented last week came from existing laws in the codes of Hopewell and Franklin townships, and were based on information gathered from work conducted at Rutgers University.
Montgomery officials said the law would simplify the job of the court in handling future complaints against four-legged friends with the gift of gab.
"In the rarest case that one of these neighborhood disputes can’t be resolved, a judge can be given a tool in the language of the law to make a decision," Mayor Birge said.
Some township officials said they remain skeptical about the ability to enforce the new language of the ordinance.
"The point is how do you prove any of this," said Mr. Warms. "We already haven’t got enough cops as it is, and you can’t have them going around to every neighborhood."
Mr. Warms said some residents at Thursday’s meeting complained about cows mooing.
"It’s absurd," he said. "It’s another overreaction that will create a law you can’t enforce."
Township officials said complaints about barking dogs have come from neighbors living near the SAVE A Friend to Homeless Animals shelter off Belle Mead-Blawenburg Road south of Montgomery High School.
"They want the ordinance to be tightened up so it requires SAVE to do what it promises to do, as a responsible shelter for good dogs, and not violent or noisy dogs," Mayor Birge said.
The ordinance will continue to be worked on by a subcommittee for introduction in the future, according to officials.