The dog must wear a barking collar at all times when it is outside, selectmen said.
LUDLOW – The Board of Selectmen has ordered Mary Dubosh of 81 Windwood Drive to keep her dog inside from 12:30 to 8 a.m. and to keep a barking collar on it at all times when it is outside.
The board took the action after her neighbor, Aimee Patalano of 26 Chadbourne Street complained that the dog awakens her and her two babies with its barking at all hours of the day and night.
Patalano said she has had spinal surgery and been confined to her bed and has had difficulty resting because of the dog’s high pitched barking.
Anthony Patalano said he has made a dozen calls to the Police Department in the past year complaining about the dog’s barking.
Animal Control Officer Gilles Turcotte said he recommended that a barking collar be kept on the dog whenever it is outside. If worn properly the dog administers a shock to the dog when it barks, Turcotte said.
Aimee Patalano said she understands that dogs bark. She said the dog has repeatedly awakened her and her children with its barking at 4 a.m.
Mary Dubosh, the owner of the dog, said she keeps the dog inside from midnight to 8 a.m. “The dog is not a nuisance,” she told selectmen.
Dubosh said the dog is “never ever out after midnight.”
Selectman Aaron Saunders said a town bylaw gives selectmen power to take action against barking dogs if they are interfering with the rest of an ill person.
Selectmen continued a Monday night hearing for six months after which time it will reevaluate whether the barking problem has been resolved between the neighbors.