HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/17/2018 Item 13, Belyea
Purrington, Teresa
From:Brynn Belyea <bpbelyea@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, July 17, 2018 2:58 PM
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Tonight's agenda - Municipal Code 6.20.010
Hello Council,
I saw the article in the Tribune about the City Council’s review of their policies and codes regarding “noisy animals”.
I am writing to express my concern and urge you to look carefully at who is making complaints and keep your policies
fair and reasonable.
As a responsible and caring dog owner, I am aware of - and overly concerned about my dog barking. I understand that it
can be disruptive when a dog barks at a nuisance level. However, most dogs do not, mine included.
A week after we bought our new house at 785 Islay Street (October, 2016), our “neighbor” at 771 Islay heard our dog
barking - perhaps for a few minutes (we had house sitters while we were out of town at a funeral, and they walked
downtown to have lunch). Her initial reaction was to call Animal Control, so we came home to a notice from them. It
turns out, our “neighbor” runs her “home” as an AIRBNB and VRBO, and doesn’t even live in the house. She was
probably concerned because she had some renters coming in while she was spending the 5 minutes she usually spends
there cleaning up or taking out the trash to get ready for the next one. She told Animal Control that the dogs were
barking “from 8 am til 5”. She hasn’t spent a night at the house in over 18 months.
My point is - ANYONE can call and complain - even a lying AIRBNB whore. Which means that, if you revise the policies to
get the police involved, etc., it makes people who are actually responsible and make extra efforts to be sure their
animals are well cared for more vulnerable to unfair accusations.
My intent in sending this email is not to complain about the fact that the woman who owns the house next door is
violating a city ordinance herself by not living in her “home”…I already told the city the situation and they totally blew
me off. My intent is to encourage you to adopt a policy and process that is fair to people who LIVE in our community
and who are part of it - especially when they go above and beyond the be sure their animals are treated well.
Thanks a lot for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Brynn Belyea
785 Islay Street
(805) 748-3329
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