A number of complaints about barking dogs in Tryon have caused officials to look into the possibility of amending the town’s noise ordinance.
The town has received numerous complaints about a dog in one area of U.S. 176 North, but every time officers and town manager Justin Hembree arrived, the dogs were not barking. Hembree says the majority of the complaints have come from one person, with some people in the same area relaying to the town that the dogs are not a problem.
Hembree says the town is reviewing the ordinance that regulates barking dogs and a recommendation could possibly be made to town council to re-structure the ordinance to make it more enforceable.
“Our officers respond every time a complaint is called in,” Hembree says, “I have responded too. The times I have responded, the dog has not been barking. To enforce the ordinance, a town official has to hear the dog.”
Hembree said the town has not received complaints about barking dogs in other areas of town.
Former Tryon Mayor Bob Neely wrote a letter to the editor recently in reference to the U.S. 176 barking dog issue and said he has filed complaints for about three years and nothing has been done. Neely also said that the town has received about 50 complaints regarding the dog in his neighborhood and a new neighbor moved in and asked about the barking dog so he knows it is not just him.