There is a surgical procedure to prevent dogs from barking by cutting out their vocal chords. :suspect:

Sherwood - A Judge has ordered Jason Clearman of Sherwood dog's vocal cords be removed to stop the barking that is allegedly disrupting his neighbor.

Full story here (http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0305/216934.html)

Now is this right?

There are dogs near here that I am glad I don't live next door to :suspect:

I would have to say 'yes', in extreme cases they should be silenced.

If, however, the noise is being caused by the dogs being aggravated by e.g. teenagers, it is the teenagers that should be dealt with :mad:

PS - I am a dog lover (before anybody gets started)

Edit: just read the story. It looks like there is alot of info missing there :mad:

Originally posted by Strix
If, however, the noise is being caused by the dogs being aggravated by e.g. teenagers, it is the teenagers that should be dealt with :mad:

I'm all for that, cut the vocal chords of Teenagers :clap:

You could be onto a winner there Strix :hihi:

It isn't the first time! It is the same Judge Hale too!

July '04 (http://www.sherwoodvoice.com/Pages/07-22-04/Dog silenced when vet cuts vocal chords.htm)

Sorry! Should work now.

I think it's a bit extreme to cut out dogs vocal chords, but I can understand how having to listen to a dog barking all day could make you feel that way.
An old neighbour of mine used to leave her alsatian locked in her back garden all day while she went out to work and the sound of her dog barking from 7.30 in the morning til 5 when she came home, used to drive me round the bend.
In the end I used to let it out of her gate when she'd gone to work and it would just wander around in and out of our garden nice and quietly, no bother and then I'd lock it in again just before she was due back.;)

there are easier ways to stop your dog/s from barking i think it is totally unnecessary to remove their vocal cords.

OMG - Barbara Woodhouse will be turning in her grave!!!!

:rant:

Seems way too extreme to me - Its just laziness.

There are all sorts of training methods and aids to combat barking available that arent so severe. Surgery seems a step too far.
A dog wouldnt be a dog if it couldnt bark!

absolutly disgusting...
yes i know how annoying it is having to listen to a dog barking all day but still that is totally barbaric. i cant even beleive this is legal.
i have lost my voice the past 2 days and i have been as miserable as sin, imagine how the poor dog would feel to all of a sudden become mute.
i am totally gob smacked :rant: :rant:

:nono: :nono: :nono: :nono: :nono:
that is sooooooooooo wrong.
:nono: :nono: :nono: :nono: :nono:

i went to visit family in southern Italy and stayed at their beach house which just so happened to be near a dogs kennel. they barked and howled day and night. i wasn't that bothered as i can sleep anywhere but my mum couldn't sleep at all. we asked if anything could be done but my brother-in-law informed us that it was owned by the local mafia so it was best not to interfere.

i really don't think it would be fair to cut the vocal cords, seems a bit too cruel and i don't even really like animals (except horses) but anyone finding a way to keep them quiet at night could be on to a winner !

I volunteer my neighbour's dog.

Wakes me up on a Sunday morning :rant:

I don't agree with it at all, especially when there are other methods.

HAVING SAID THAT, some dogs are given up on by people and are put down because they're a 'nuisance'.
Surely, this is better than just killing the poor blighters?

I still don't think it's right though, but I think it's the lesser of the two evils.

A dog that barks just hasn't been properly trained. A simple clip on the nose each time it barks will soon stop it. Maybe the owner should have their vocal chords chopped out instead (as well as a vasectomy).

Originally posted by Lotti
HAVING SAID THAT, some dogs are given up on by people and are put down because they're a 'nuisance'.

Surely, this is better than just killing the poor blighters?

Having the dog put down stops it from being a nuisance..

Silencing the dog will just get rid of the yapping/barking, the dog may still be a nuisance after that and would you like to be quiet for the rest of your life ? I know I wouldn't, how would I annoy everyone at forum meets :D

I agree with neither of the above.. If you think your responsible enough to have a dog, accept what a dog brings with it :D

That may sound like a dig but it isn't, honest :)

I know someone who has a Collie of the Blue Murl? variety. This dog and all it's siblings that we know of, bark all the time. They are seriously disturbed dogs, and I wouldn't have one at all. If I were the neighbours of the family with this dog I would insist that these dogs were either debarked or put to sleep.

I really don't think that there is a lot that could be done about the dog's behaviour as far as training or discipline. I just think that they are like that. Apparently their vet said that they were impossible dogs too.

The bark of this particular dog is a particularly piercing and painful variety of noise, to most humans.

i'm not even a dog lover, but i can't believe a procedure like this would be legal, let alone imposed by court order!

putting a dog down is more humane than this imo..

I can honestly say I'm NOT a dog lover, in fact since living next door to a man who owns 2 dogs, that are kept outside, I hate ALL dogs. My wife listens to them bark during the day, I listen to them bark on an evening - if I open my conservatory doors into the garden, it sets them off, if I cough in my garden, it sets them off.

I would happily encourage the removal of a dogs vocal cords - in fact I'd like to do it myself, with a very blunt pair of dessert spoons!

I now have a 1000w flood light positioned right at their pen and the sensor in the same direction - when they come out at night - they're blinded with 1000w of light. - so far its working - they don't like the light.

That's a cruel thing to do to a dog, no matter how much he barks. The proper solution is to retrain the dog or else rehome him. But there are people who encourage their dogs to bark, which is just as cruel as that could easily lead neighbours to do nasty things to the animal. I've heard of other such quick fix solutions to animal behaviour, such as declawing cats, and there's no need for this either (to stop them ripping up the furniture you only need to squirt water at them and they will soon associate ripping things up with getting wet ears). A dog's bark is part of his defences, just as a cat's claws are, and to take that away is downright mean.

A dog that just barks and barks has to be one of the most irritating things ever though. I recommend ear plugs for sleeping in for those who have one of the beasts nearby.

I don't understand why dogs should be debarked - it is cruel!:loopy:

The owners should be ordered to take their dog to training - it may teach them to be a bit more responsible as well.

I am NOT a dog lover - can't stand that wet dog smell! - makes me want to heave:gag: but I definitely wouldn't want them debarked.

Dogs surely bark for a reason. Often it is because their basic needs are being neglected by selfish owners. Why should they endure mutilation because of the feckless behaviour of the anti-social cretins that should be looking after them properly?

If one leaves a domestic breed of dog out at night, or unattended until it becomes crazed with boredom, barking will follow. Anyone with an ounce of commonsense knows this. It is the owners who should suffer the consequences, not the dogs. It is far too easy to obtain a dog, and far too easy for people to get away with neglecting them. Thousands buy the animals on a whim , after seeing some sentimental film, or encountering a 'cute' puppy of the breed in a park. They do not seem to realise that owning a dog brings with it serious social responsibilities and duties.

I mentioned in my previous post about a particular type of collie dog I see every day, which just barks all the time. In my opinion I do not think that any amount of training could alter it's behaviour. I know it's owners and while not perfect, this dog just barks constantly, and so do all it's brothers, they have had lots of dogs before and have never had one like this or one which barks like this. They even got another dog too because they thought it might help, but that one is a nice well behaved crossbred bitch and didn't change the other dog's behaviour one iota.
In my opinion it would be far less cruel and offensive to me to have this dog's bark removed than having a dogs tail removed for vanity, like many breeders and owners do.

ALL barking dogs can be trained - there are various methods - you just have to work through them..... my mother-in-law's dog barked all the time and I mean ALL the time, but they found a good trainer who sorted him out - now he only barks when someone comes to the door.

What needs to be appreciated is that a bad behaved dog, behaves badly because its owners don't care - I'm sure ALL dogs can be trained, however, more often than not, the owners dont care

Surely if you have a dog, you take responsibility for it? If this is the case shouldn't the judge be making the OWNERS pay for the dogs to be properly trained rather then "simply" snipping the dogs vocal chords?