Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
I'm not generally one to subscribe to the notion of a slippery-slope argument, where one bad idea leads to another and then another. But I'm leaning that way over the noise debate currently taking place in the county.
What started as a handful of county residents legitimately irritated at a few pet owners allowing their dogs to bark incessantly, is starting to snowball. Now we're told that not only barking dogs should be the target of the ordinance, but motorcycles and snowmobiles should also be added to the list of offending racket-makers.
Don't get me wrong, I think pet owners should be responsible and not leave their dogs to bark well into the night, but is this really something we want to codify into the county's legal code?
I can see it now. Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine will be going to the county commissioners one day soon because he needs a new, larger jail to house the owners of all the Rovers and Fidos from North Manchester to Etna Green, from Milford to Silver Lake, that can't keep their yapping traps shut. These owners will be hauled off to the pokey to be thrown in with other hardened criminals who had the temerity to enjoy a sunny afternoon on their motorcycles or the freshly fallen snow on their snowmobiles.
And while we're at it, why should we stop at singling out dog owners and motorcyclists? Why not go after those early-Saturday-morning lawn mowers or those irresponsible parents of the noisy playground crowd? And that irresponsible mom in the local grocery store who permitted that child to cry by not buying the packet of gum surely deserves five or 10 years busting rocks.
Yes, I know how ridiculous this sounds. But it's no more ridiculous than criminalizing a barking dog.
Perhaps a more sane and reasonable solution would be a little Christian tolerance and civility. We all must deal with situations we'd rather not out of respect for others. If there is a situation where a dog or group of dogs is disturbing the neighbors of their owners, wouldn't it be a more direct, personal and civil approach to go to that owner with the complaint first and see if an accommodation can be reached?
Certainly it would. Clogging the already-crowded court docket with "barking complaints" should be an option of last resort. Calling the sheriff first to haul someone off to an overcrowded jail shouldn't be an option at all.
But if the advocates of such a law prevail, there is a possibility that others will take that cue and besiege the county council or commissioners with requests for a myriad of "nuisance ordinances."
We can have the previously mentioned lawn mower and screaming child ordinances. Or an ordinance prohibiting cheering at Warsaw's home football games to protect homes near the campus.
And why stop at noise? We can outlaw other "offenses" to our senses?
Hog farmers can be required to install expensive deodorizing equipment on their operations for use during those hot summer days when odoriferous emanations waft over a nearby neighborhood and degrade their quality of life.
The wearing of outdated fashions, or colors and patterns that clash horribly, can henceforth be forbidden, thereby saving the masses from the optical insults of the offending parties.
Perhaps even the voicing of frivolous and specious complaints to common, everyday occurrences that would be better off tolerated could be outlawed, saving the taxpayers from having to pay our elected officials to listen to inane requests, such as outlawing barking dogs.
Look folks, I understand a barking dog can be annoying. Loud motorcycles can grate on your nerves, a snowmobile surely can break the quiet solitude of a beautiful, crisp winter's day. But, none of those "problems" warrants codifying their offensiveness into law.
And if a civil approach to the offending party doesn't address the problem, then a civil suit would be more appropriate than involving our law enforcement officials in noise disputes and adding other needless laws into the books.
