Dog wars: Does bark law need more bite?
Peavine Hollow Road is quintessential 21st-century Albemarle. Although unpaved, the Free Union-area road is home to exotic animal farms, a pick-your-own berry patch, and generous lots that seem tailored to boutique farms and providing plenty of breathing room between neighbors. Lately, however, the bucolic setting has become the eye of a storm over dog barking, something the county tried to remedy last year by banning unneighborly canine noise, an ordinance that ran afoul of the state's highest court and may get rewritten and tightened in the coming days.
In the outlying parts of the county, some already decry any barking restriction as an assault on property rights and an attack on the Albemarle's vaunted rural character. Others, however, hail the ordinance for offering protection of their property rights, such as quiet enjoyment of– you guessed it– the county's rural character.
And some simply wonder why a dispute over the sounds emanating from man's best friend should escalate to cops and courtrooms.
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