Neighbors
 

We just don't know why some people are the way they are, not considerate, appropriately respectful or just plain neighborly. Sorry you have to deal with one of those. Most of us dog owners (and others of course) are very respectful of our neighbors. We hope there is some appropriate remedy for you, legal or otherwise.

Will never happen. In this day and age of low staffing and high crime, a trespassing or dog leash / dog poop call will be VERY low priority. Police may not respond for hours. Too busy with auto burgs, assaults. shoplifting, drug use, etc.

This is how "having them arrested" would go down, from a realistic practical perspective from my real-world decades of experience:

No judge will ever hold a dog responsible for any violation. Dogs do not possess the capacity for intent. They will roll their eyes their time is being wasted. It will never even get to them, however. Any responding officer is going to roll their eyes that their time is being wasted on such a minor thing.

In addition, leash laws and dog poop rules are, at the very highest, an infraction. Infractions are "crimes" punishable by a fine. This is almost always handled via a citation, not arrest.

Even if the "crime" were a misdemeanor (highly unlikely), misdemeanors MUST be committed in the presence of the officer. There are a few exceptions such as domestic battery, drunk driving, indecency within certain range of school grounds, etc. BUT animal issues are not in any of the exceptions I've ever seen.

Let's change tack for a moment. Let's say instead of going after the dog, you are now considering pursuing the dog's owner for the "crime." Let's be so generous as to say it is a misdemeanor and not an infraction, and the only crime we "might" pursue here is trespassing. For trespassing to occur, two things (the elements of the crime) must happen:

1. A person has to be in a place they do not lawfully have the right to be, and;

2. That person must be asked/directed/told to leave by a person with authority over the location and the person "trespassing" must refuse to do so when requested/directed.

Actually a third thing must occur, remember that in order for an officer to make a misdemeanor arrest, it must be committed in his/her presence. Digressing, since that isn't an actual element of the crime, just another loophole one must get through in order for this arrest to ever occur.

So if I'm up on your lawn or driveway (the curtilage of approach normally acceptable for public to be upon in order to access the front doorway to contact the owner - so usually deemed legally reasonable) and you order me off your property I can stay or go.

If I go, no crime has occurred. If I stay, you will have to call the police, enjoy the long wait for them to arrive at this very low priority call (to witness my misdemeanor violation) and I have to STILL be on the property.

If I am not, no crime.

If I am still on the property, the officer's are going to do everything they can to talk me into complying to save them time and paperwork. As long as I eventually comply, I am neither cited nor arrested and you just wasted a phenomenal amount of time and resources making you look like a "Karen," or at the very least a self-entitled a$$hat. Again, no crime.

Now, let's say you wish to conduct a citizen's arrest for my misdemeanor violation. If I keep making court dates, arraignments, continuances or excuses for more time, trial, etc., you will HAVE TO ATTEND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY COURT APPEARANCES or else the case is thrown.

If the case is thrown, I now have grounds to civilly sue you for false arrest. See where I'm going here? You will be paying all my court costs and damages for harm to my reputation, loss of time, income, etc.

So, back to my original statement, "Will never happen."

I will offer one very big HOWEVER, a caveat if you will.

This entire scenario can drastically change IF the officer is so motivated and circumstances allow. An example of this is the offender is habitual (preferably a parolee or probationer) and a known PITA to deal with from the officer's prior contacts. Dealing with all the time and paper delays created by this incident may be deemed worthwhile to prevent the offender from wasting even more time and resources with additional calls being generated due to the offender's actions during the remainder of the officer's shift or the next shift.

Yes, you have just indicated why it could be necessary to personally make it undesirable for the dog owner to act selfishly.

Yes, it is a right of way, but it is not private property. My survey plat indicates that my front lot line is located about 7 feet back from the edge of the street. So, the 7 foot strip must be considered public property.
Otherwise, who owns it?

Don't count on it. My dogs poop & pee on the rocks all the time. So do the neighbor dogs. Our whole back CYV area is bordered in stones. One dog uses that; the other uses our stones in the front.

My front lot line does not extend to the street, so the 7-foot strip of land between my lot line and the street must be public property because I do not own it. If it is not public property, then who owns it?

There has been a dead fish in a local yard and my dog almost always drags me up to it and gives it another shower.

Probably fell off of a bird who grabbed too much to carry from a Village lake.

WRONG! That area Is NOT a right of way! It is an "Easement" , an area on Your property that utility workers may use to access their equipment. The general public, with or without dogs, have no right to use it without your permission.
Who owns it? You own it, water it, mow it and PAY TAXES on it.
This myth of public right of way appears regularly, and some self entitled individuals are only too glad to believe, or pretend to believe it, for their own convenience. No one except the appropriate officials may access your property for work or maintenance.

OMG! Another agreement. I think I may need an MRI of my brain :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Fictional scenario designed, apparently, to dissuade folks from taking necessary legal steps for protecting themselves and their property from abuse.

Not wrong. I don't know about your property, but my survey plat clearly states that it is a "Right of Way", not an easement. There are easements designated on the back of my property inside the lot line, but this is outside of the lot line and is stated as a right of way. My front lot line is designated to be located 7 feet back from the street pavement. So, the 7-foot strip of land between the lot line and the street is not on my property.

You can call your counties animal nuisance and file a complaint complaint against the owners. Not the dog of course.

Relax! You're just fine! 😉

Agreed.

The drawings I received with my home show 3.5' between the edge of the road and the beginning of my property. The Sumter County Property Appraiser page for my home shows the same.

But my home is on a circle. My neighbor's homes that are on the straight portion of the street show more area between the road and the property line - about twice as much - which would be the 7' strip mentioned in this and other posts.

I think the hose with the sharp spray would be a better option. LOL.