The Pit Bulls Next Door

I never expected to be so chummy with the local animal control officers, but since they are in the neighborhood all of the time, I guess it's inevitable. The pit bulls next door are now deemed "dangerous animals" by the city. This means that they have to be secured at all times either in the house or in a pin with certain specifics like a top and sides buried 12 inches into the ground. The process to get this distinction has taken a lot of effort on the part of the Animal Control officers because the neighbor will not talk to them, answer the door or answer the phone.

I feel bad for the dogs, it's not a very nice existence for a big dog to spend all of your time in house but I feel much safer to be in and around the neighborhood. I was actually able to trim the fence row between our yards this weekend without being barked and snarled at! We had added some additional fence to their chain link fence that we may be able to take down now so I can protect the garden from the deer.

That's the excitement in the neighborhood...I feel somewhat like a busybody but we also want to be safe hanging out in our yard. The dogs have become more aggressive in the year that we have lived here and recently got out and approached a different neighbor. A formal complaint was filed based on that incident which was the same day that we were in the process of finding out how we could get them removed. Our biggest concern now that the dogs are inside all day is that the dogs will get out of the door when someone comes or goes from the house which seems to happen frequently in the night! Since they have been deemed a dangerous animal, they can be shot if they are out of their yard. Animal control is still trying to remove them so we may all be able to breath a big sigh of relief.