News Jun 24, 2010 at 4:00 am

The Crime of Barking

Comments

1
Wait, WHAT?! I have to admit, this is unsurprising coming from someone like Mr. Mudede who has a track record of hating dogs and all people who love them. But to, even jestingly, suggest that this knife-wielding man was somehow rendered temporarily irrational by a dog barking is totally beyond the pale.

On top of that, the woman had a service dog. Perhaps one reason the dog began barking, or continued to bark, is because he correctly perceived the man as a threat! My dog, a quiet apartment dweller, rarely barks, but when he does, it's because some junkie is approaching or someone's in the street breaking into cars. I would hope if someone came toward me and my dog with a knife, my dog wouldn't shut up.

I don't love the sound of my neighbor's dachshunds barking down the hall every time I walk by, believe me. But that certainly won't justify me pulling a knife on him. Shameful.
2
"Yes, the suspect was wrong to threaten the woman with a knife, but it's also important for dog lovers to appreciate the fact that many humans profoundly hate dog-barking."

Tough shit, Mudede. The victim wasn't a "dog-lover", she was BLIND. Like you seem to be with regards to your hatred of dogs.

Asshole.
3
Officer Schikler can always be counted on for prompt decisive action. A bit chatty though.
4
Stabbing is wrong, and barking is soul-shaking. These two facts can co-exist, yall.
5
@manimal: You're right, they can co-exist (just like new parents can be driven insane by their baby crying, yet would never shake their baby to death because of it).

However, Mudede's trying to imply a cause-and-effect relationship here, except there isn't one. Some creepy guy pulls a knife, approaches the woman and the dog threateningly, and the dog keeps barking, and somehow the dog's continued barking at a knife-wielding man explains why the man pulled out the knife in the first place? Ridiculous.

I'm a small woman, and I run early in the mornings on Capitol Hill. More than once I've been chased by creepy people, who quickly disappear once my big dog, who runs with me, turns and barks at them. But I suppose that Mudede would rather I be assaulted or raped simply for the crime of having a dog that might bark at a criminal....Since we can understand how they might want to attack me and all, since they just can't stand the barking!

In this publication, being a dog owner automatically makes you deserving of whatever you get. That's the only point I take away from his story.
6
@2: If the victim was blind, how was it that she "looked to see what it was barking at" and "observed the suspect holding a knife in his left hand?" It seems this particular dog's service was not sight.

But I agree with you that Mr. Mudede is being an asshole here. If I had a dog, I would certainly want it to bark and alert me when a man with a knife is hiding behind a nearby pillar.
7
Sounds like the dog is a great judge of character.
8
Maybe the dog took offense to the perp's stinky hair product.
9
Ahh, so if a dog is barking I get to threaten to kill it and its owner then threaten the police that come by to arrest my psycho ass? You really are a sick fuck Maudede.
10
As if it is completely appropriate to respond to irriating barking by threatening to kill? There would be no one left if we all responded to irritation in that manner. The world would be empty of humans... This article is irritating. (:= (oh and I hate dogs barking but this is just silly)
11
This era dogs are used as passive-aggressive, anti-social weapons: what bullets are to guns, barking is to dogs. Barking kills--a slow, painful death from a million bee stings. Communities should focus on the root cause of the conflict between barking dog and innocent human: the barking is the root cause. It's the BARKING that's the source of the conflict. The source of the conflict is not the barking-sufferer's REACTION to barking, whatever that reaction may be. Chronic barking is molestation. The party at fault is the household with the barker(s). It doesn't matter what the sufferer-of-barking does to try to get the barking to stop--they feel desperate because they're not getting support from the outlying community to get the barking stopped. I'm not talking about partial-barking stopped--I mean 100%. The barking-sufferer has a right to enjoy his or her patch of real estate unmolested by barking. The barker needs to get gone.

In a conflict between one person and a dog, the human should win out every time. Human rights trump dog rights. Who is it who pays the mortgage or rent? Not dogs. Why do we as society allow dogs to have more rights than people? Barking is a serious offense: barking makes people--literally--insane. Chronic barking causes the barking-sufferer to not be able to meet his obligations in paying the mortgage or rent and put food on the table. People, obtaining dogs, who like to have their "own petty egos stroked," are clueless as to what it takes to truly care for a dog. Being the guardian of a dog is a lifelong commitment--it is similar as caring for a human infant--dogs cost money and take time--done properly--lots of both. Leaving dog(s) in a yard unattended and unloved is a hazard to anyone not the owner who is within earshot of the barking. A barker is a menace. A barker is a health hazard. A barker is an "ignored" dog--it's time we see chronic barking for what it is: ANIMAL NEGLECT. Animal neglect has serious consequences! Things have to be done, by the community, on behalf of the barking-sufferer, in its laws, fines, punishments, jail-time, impounding dog, or seizing dog-owner's vehicle.

Communities should give power to law enforcement to seize yard barkers without the dog owner's knowledge, impound the dog(s). Or 6 months in jail. Or a US$1,000 (GBPÂŁ700) fine. If I had my wish, the dog would be euthanized within 24 hours.

Dog-haters are made, not born. Residents become hostile after years of their communities having more sympathy for barkers than for barking-sufferers, communities who spit on human need for peace and quiet where they live. Having dogs growing up, I used to like dogs. No more. Barkers are REALLY, REALLY bad public-relations for canines in general. Barking gives the whole canine species a bad reputation. Responsible dog owners should pressure "arrant dog owners who condone chronic barking" to STOP THE BARKING.

You know, how would you feel if you went to poop in your own toilet, the next-door neighbor's dog heard you from outside, barked continuously 5 feet from where you're doing your business? How would you feel if you put a dish in the microwave oven, the other next-door neighbor's dog heard you from outside, barked continuously 5 feet from where you're trying to eat a pleasant meal? How would you feel if the phone rings, answer it, the next-door neighbor's dog heard you from outside, barked continuously 5 feet from where you're trying to have a conversation where you yell into the phone "I can't hear you. What'd you say?" How would you feel if the only place you could sleep was on the floor in a closet located on the other side of the house? (This really happened.) And finally, how would you feel if this went on, day and night, for five years? Answer honestly, because you would not have had a good night's sleep in five years. How would YOU feel?

Dogs have no business around human dwelling areas. Dogs are "guests" and as such, must behave. If dogs don't behave, banish them. Dog exits off premises permanently. Don't bother with de-barking.

Mediation implies there is something to mediate, as if with chronic barking there is middle-ground or compromise. Sorry, but I'm not going to compromise my physical need for a safe and sane soundscape around my home. The dog leaves.

Nobody likes "second-hand dog pollution."
12
@Leonato

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/jobs/…

Looks like they are hiring an editorial intern.
13
@11

Now THAT'S a a dog rant! Wade Blasingame-league stuff. You walked the fine line that divides sarcasm and psychosis. I had to read past the jump before I could tell that you were being serious.

You are being serious, right?
14
The last paragraph implies that threatening someone with a knife is a rational reaction -- even if rightly suppressed -- to dog-barking. Framing it as a "wrong" vs. "right" issue ignores the obvious fact that the suspect was mentally ill. We are not talking about rational behavior here. Logically, it comes out of nowhere -- besides, perhaps, the writer's own bias against dog-barking.

Coincidentally, I came across a homeless guy yesterday around Boylston and Madison on 1st Hill who threatened a guy who was walking his dog with a knife. The homeless guy got in the dog-walker's face and said, "You better get that dog away from me or I'll cut its throat." The dog-walker and dog got away safely. I wonder if it was the same guy as the suspect? Or is this common?
15
Wow, Charles, dude. You're a tool bag.
16
How unusual, Mudede is being a douche for attention.
17
Barking is annoying, but you know what else is? Stinky leave-in hair conditioner. It's like an assault to your nostrils. Hypocrisy? Moral of the story: There's no excuse to be a douchebag to someone accidentally and passively assaulting your senses now is there?
18
Holy shit. It's official. Mudede is a fucking joke. What the last paragraph supposed to be funny or insightful? It fell flat on both fronts.

I couldn't name a single other writer for the Stranger (well, I guess with the exception of Savage), but I know Mudede's name because everytime I read an article that amounts to a steaming pile of shit, I look up and see his name under the title.
19
Mudede's a professional troll, and not a very good one at that.
20
17- could not have said it better.

If in Mudede's Crackland logic it's OK to assault a handicapped person and her service dog for barking, then I think it's ok for a teacher to get a migraine from shitty olive oil shampoo [with shady subtext of racism thrown in]. Chuck time to grow the fuck up.
21
I never thought Mudede was that much of an asshole till I read this. Fuck you Chuck. And I agree about the crap olive oil shampoo issue too. You're a professional whiner Mudede. And a fucktard.
22
stranger, you know i love you, but this shit should never have been published. really? really? the stranger is cool with threatened murder of a disabled person because her service dog barks at a psychotic creep? really?

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