Tired of incessant yapping of your neighbor's dog? Well, the city of Los Angeles is on your side: they've decided to levy fines on the owners of dogs that bark excessively (and if that doesn't make 'em silence those pooches fast, I don't know what will).

Under the changes, dog owners would face fines starting at $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second and $1,000 for a third if a hearing conducted by the Department of Animal Services determines that a dog barks too much.

But exactly how much barking is too much?

The changes approved in the 12-0 vote would make that clearer to animal services officials, Assistant City Atty. Dov Lesel said.

A dog's barking would be considered excessive if it continued for 10 minutes or more, or intermittently for 30 minutes or more within a three-hour period, Lesel said.

I sympathize with those harrassed by barking dogs (one of my neighbor has a dog that barked all night for years) but ask any dog owner and they'll tell you that dogs are dogs and they will bark. Sometimes they bark a lot, especially if something unusual is up. And what happens if you're not there to silence your dog, say if you have to work and the dog is in the back yard?

Will the new rule penalize those in working-class neighborhood, who keep dogs for protection against break-ins? Or will it finally give peace to sore ears?

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