I am fed up with these people. I myself live on that road and have called numerous times on them and another couple that think they own the neighborhood and can infringe upon us that dont have dogs and dont want to hear them barking to the wee hours of the night. How would you like it if the day you bring your new baby from the hospital home you cant sleep or get your child to sleep because there are 20 dogs barking at once in the neighborhood and no one will do anything about it? The first night I lived in my home I work very hard for I woken up at 4 am the next day to the sound of these retched things that really arent to blame. I love dogs and want one for my own but I feel like subjecting another dog to the chaos of our loud neighborhood would be neglectful. THis nut says he wont fall to the dictatorship? How about abiding by the law that everyone else has to follow in this demacracy? It isnt about how much you love them or take care of them or want them it is about the state you have left your neighborhood in. I dont even want to talk to anyone due to this situation and it is a real shame as there are some nice sane people in the neighborhood. Even a rancher has to limit how may horses they have per acre by law. If you are so attached to animals how about working for the humane society and letting your neighbor rest and enjoy the neighborhood that they pay too many taxes in. The tax money you are wating on an open and shut case that should have ended a while ago. I am fed up with you. You better abide or the next person I call is going to be the health department and the humane society to come do a pick up. There are plenty of homes for your extra dogs and I am sorry to say I am so fed up I am not one of them.

cookiedough - Perhaps they should move in next door to you.

Perhaps I'm old fashioned but even if there wasn't an ordinance controling the number of dogs I could have I would want to keep peace with the neighbors and if my dogs were causing problems I would want to resolve it in some way. This couple's attitude seems to be "screw you, we don't care what the ordinances say and we don't care if we're making or neighbor's lives miserable." That's a lousy attitude for someone who wants to live amongest others.

Put a kegger in it and maybe they'll go.

I feel Im qualified to comment on this subject, as I love dogs (have 2) and live in Orfordville, a few blocks from the said "dog Pound". This is not your average love of pets family. If we were talking about 3, 4 or even 5 friendly, occassional barking dogs, there would not be an article here. The constant barking is like water dripping. VERY annoying. As neighbors, we have lost our rights to a peaceful sanctuary. This has gone on way too long. I will pay for the U Haul!

They are in violation of the Village of Orfordvilles rules and they should have some of the dogs taken away or the fines should increase with each police visit. Laws are made for a reason and that reason is not to be broken. If you can't follow the laws where you live then move. By seeing what is on the family watchdog site he has a history of not following the law.

Leave them alone if the dogs are cared for is my opinion

frogger...some local townships only allow 2 dogs before you need a kennel permit.

The Humane Society only responds to Law Enforcement requests to assist in an investigation. I would think and hope the only problem at this residence is the number of animals.
I feel sorry for the officers that have to go out and issue the tickets 19 times. How frustrating and disempowering this must feel to them. If someone else in the village has 4 dogs do you think the officers are even going to bother with a ticket?

I don't see why this should even be up for discussion. There in violation of a village ordinance and have been repeatedly ticketed. Enough is enough. Take those 6 dogs away and I guarantee they will be adopted out to a better home than they are living in now.

Orfordville is a Village. Any property lies in one of the following municipalities;
A) A City
B) A Village
C) A Town (Township)
It is not possible to live in more than one.
That municipality then lies within a County.
That County lies within a State.
That State lies within this Country.
Everyone in the United States is identified as either living within a City, Village or Town.

Now, all these municipalities each have their own Ordinances. From the Federal level, down to each State, down to each County, down to the local municipality, the laws created by each can become "more restrictive than", but not allow more.

This is why people who understand this tend to choose where they prefer to live, when determining the laws they would prefer to be guided by and compared to, and expect the others in that community to equally be obligated.

When you compare you're laws and local Ordinances to other communities (complicated more by some deed restrictions, sometimes referred to as covenants, typically within subdivisions) you then need to understand the "local" allowed lifestyle. You may not appreciate these "rules", but you should then choose to abide, petition to change, or move. However, you should expect everyone to live by the same rules within that community.

It is not uncommon for some people to "generally" agree that some rules have been created because of specific nuisance cases. This is why "problem" cases are usually addressed only when complaint driven. I tend to agree with this system, although it is far from perfect, because some people enjoy complaining as a lifestyle.

Now, this seems to be a case where someone in a more densely populated community than a rural Town, within the Village of Orfordville, is abusing the Ordinance of specified limited dog capacity of 3, and does not want to follow the local law. They exceed that by 6 (9, 3 times the allowed) and have been cited 19 times. I suspect they have been addressed much more than 19 times. I agree this is unacceptable. The Village has determined it is “fed up”. In this case use the "full arm" of the law and apply it to the extreme.

This story does not have a happy ending for the innocent victims, which are the dogs. The likely outcome for them is either the Humane Society or a short term country life. It sounds like country life means a summary execution by unhappy neighbors who solve the problem with lead poisoning. Bummer for the dogs.

These are not good neighbors, violating the law, having nine dogs, refusing to acknowlege that they are the problem. I know exactly what the neighbors are going through, having the displeasure of an encounter on that order many years ago.

Don't send them out in the country, we are just fine without them. Keep the trash in the cities. They need to be fined every day that they violate the ordinances and given any other penalty available under the laws.

Unfortunatly dealing with creeps like these in a legal manner takes a long time, too bad for the neighbors.

I live in the country and i too would hate to hear the barking of 9 dogs. This guy wouldn't last a day in the country because 1) People in the country that are a problem with their neighbors tend to live a miserable existence and 2) PROBLEM ANIMALS DISAPPEAR.
Harsh but true.

The ordinance is what I call a stupid person law. Any reasonable person would not own 9 dogs in an urban environment. Thus, village boards pass ordinances to protect neighbors from stupid people who are oblivious to the obvious.
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I wonder what the dipstick dog owner thinks is a reasonable number of dogs he should be allowed to own? Will he stop at 9, maybe it is 15, or better yet 44?
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The Village really needs to be more assertive for a variety of reasons. First, in fairness to the neighbors. I would be livid if I lived next to the Orfordville Dog Pound. Second, in fairness to the dogs. Eventually they will be displaced and no fault of their own. It is the classic case of good dog, bad dog owner. Third, in fairness to anyone wishing to sell their home in Orfordville. Would you consider buying a home in a community that does not protect your property rights and quiet enjoyment? And fourth, as a deterrence to other pea brains who have no respect for common sense rules. The longer the Village dithers, the greater the chance that more Orfordville antics like this end up on Theodore's blog.

The bums needs to either keep the dogs and move to where it is legal, or get rid of the excess dogs and live legally. You can't have both worlds. These people are living in a fantasy world....

The ordinance is in place for a reason. It’s an attempt to be fair to everyone. It tries to be fair to the homeowners, saying they can have a dog, or even as many as three if they like. But just as importantly, it tries to be fair to the neighbours – who may well have been there before these people – and allow them a reasonable amount of peace and quiet by preventing huge collections of animals. This is a no-brainer: Orfordville has given plenty of warning, they should come in and take all the animals away, put them in the pound, and fine the homeowner heavily.

What amazes me is that none of the neighbours took matters into their own hands. I’ve lived in places where it was not uncommon for noisy dogs to be found dead in the morning. When towns refuse to enforce their laws, crude “frontier justice” has a way of fixing the problem. I’m not advocating that, just noting it’s better for the town to do their job before other problems pop up.

Most townships around here also have ordinances allowing only a 3-4 dogs per home (depends on which township you live in). So moving to the country won't necessarily help them avoid getting rid of some of the dogs, unless the new township they live in would grant them a kennel licence, but seeing not many townships are willing to grant those, unless you have a farm and are far away from neighbors. I would have to say they are going to face more of the same kind of problems with having too many dogs than what is allowed.
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Did I read somewhere, that some of the dogs are not even licensed? That definitely should bring additional fines along with the fines for being over the dog # limit. Seems to me a costly situation, one I would have looked into before adopting or buying any more dogs.
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Has the humane society ever been contacted or investigated? Not saying there is a problem with abuse or neglect,I am just asking because I would think they should have at least done a welfare check, just to make sure since this does seem like a unusual amount of dogs for one home. Sure people can have many animals and all is well, but, sometimes and I am NOT saying this is the case, but hoarding and neglect can happen. I would hate for any animal to be in that kind of situation.
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I don't think the laws are the same when it comes to how many pets you can have in the country.
What country? The one that is outside the city. Usually people in the country don't have a neighbor 10 feet from their home. I agree if they are in the country and neglecting the pets then something should be done. Not sure if neglect here but definitely nuisance!

Follow the law. It is not a secret ordinance, it was not put in place to "target" them. Why should they not have to follow this ordinance?

Hey frogger...move to what country if you don't want to obey the law?! Last time I checked, people in the country should obey the local ordinances and have respect for their neighbors, too.

They need to obey the law and give up six dogs or move somewhere else that allows them to have as many dogs as they would like. OR go to jail like anyone else who has total disregard for the law.

Move to the country if you don't care to obey the law. WHY should you get 9 dogs and every other person obeys the ordnance?

For the good of the community AND those living around "the pound", this couple should voluntarily give up their kennel, pay their fines, or go to jail. Laws are made for all, including those who love their dogs. I feel sorry for those that live nearby. I can also empathize with the dog owners BUT they knowingly violated the law.

Obviously the dogs are creating a nuisance to the neighbors otherwise no one would have complained and the township would have no knowledge of the number of dogs since they mostly are fairly small animals. The ordinance is in place to prevent nuisances in neighborhoods. Something should be done if there is a nuisance.