A cocker spaniel breeder whose barking dogs bother her neighbors has agreed to cut the animals vocal chords.

Judy McIntire, who breeds the dogs behind her home, acceeded to an agreement in Belknap County Superior Court that will allow her to keep one of the 14 dogs unscathed.

The agreement ends a five-year dispute in which the town accused McIntire of violating zoning restrictions by allowing her dogs to disturb the lakeside neighborhood.

McIntire said she will have the dogs "de-barked," which leaves them sounding as if they're coughing when they bark.  "They didn't leave me an option. I have been backed into a corner," she said.  "It makes them frustrated that they can't get sound," she said of de-barked dogs. "But I don't want to live without my animals, I love them too much."

It was McIntire, however, who suggested the procedure during talks with the town.

The case was to be tried in court, but after lawyers on both sides met with Judge Kenneth McHugh behind closed doors, the parties came to the agreement in which McIntire will avoid fines that could have totaled more than $200,000.

Walter Mitchell, Gilmanton's lawyer, said of the solution: "It is something that frankly sickens us. Yes, it will solve the problem, so we can't say no, but ... "

Jennifer Dorris, a spokesman from the Humane Society of New Hampshire in Laconia, said the society opposes de-barking as it opposes other cosmetic procedures such as clipping dogs' tails.

McIntire and her husband, Arthur Stancombe, were especially rankled that they have been led to the solution by complaints from summer residents.

"Who has the rights, here?" Stancombe asked. "Summer folks from Mass or people that support the area year round?" The neighbors, Janice Quigley and Rita Lahey, refused repeated requests to speak about the case.

Stancombe said McIntire has spent several thousand dollars on fences and electronic devices to make the dogs stop barking, but the neighbors have not been satisfied.  "We have endeavored to do the best we can," he said. "And whatever we do is not enough for them."

     Photo's courtesy of Cheryl Green - McIntires breeding pups - One of these pups died because of it's blown out eye, the other was taken to Georgette Currens Kennel in Maine on 6-22-08 for breeding.

   (Photo courtesy of Cheryl Green - One of McIntires breeding dog - This spotted male was debarked by shoving a pipe down his throat.  He was 5-years-old when Yankee Chihahua rescued him.  When he was neutered and examined the veterinarian stated the dog had a sideways cleft.

McIntire has been raising cocker spaniels since the 1970s, but beginning in about 1993, the town moved to quiet them. Stancombe said the complaints began about the time Quigley moved in.

Lahey's property is about 250 feet from the screened-in kennel. Quigley's property is about 350 feet away. In between lie undeveloped woods.

McIntire, who sometimes has as many as 25 pure-bred cocker spaniels on her property, shows the dogs at regional shows and is invited regularly to the prestigious annual Westminster Show in New York.

She said de-barking the dogs would not lessen their show value.

Update 9/3/99:  A woman who has agreed to have her dogs de-barked by next February in order to end a long-standing dispute with her neighbors is holding onto hope that she won't have to have her dogs surgically silenced.

Judy McIntire said she agreed earlier this week to have the surgery performed on all but one of her pure-bred cocker spaniels because she was faced with the prospect of a $200,000 fine for zoning violations after neighbors complained over the last five years that the barking dogs disturbed the peace of the Crystal Lake neighborhood.

"I pray that I don't have to do this," said McIntire, who proposed the de-barking remedy as a way to settle the court case, which was scheduled to go to trial in Belknap County Superior Court.

She said the case is attracting national attention and hopes animal lovers across the country will her prevail in "the Dog Wars."

In the last two days she has been interviewed and filmed by television stations from Boston, Maine and New Hampshire and fielded numerous requests for interviews from newspapers and magazines all over the
country.

She must have all but one of her dogs de-barked by Feb. 1 or be held in contempt of court. The other alternative is to have only one dog at her home.

The surgical procedure, which costs about $400, would entail either removal of the vocal chords or scraping them with surgical instruments to remove part of the vocal chord. The operations are performed while the animals are under full anesthesia.

McIntire says the dogs still would be able to make sounds after the operation but the noise would be more like a cough.  She said it would not affect her being able to show the dogs in competition at the Westminster Dog Show, where she has been invited but has not yet found time to attend.

McIntire said she sound-proofing her kennel also would resolve the problem, but she doubted she could obtain the necessary building permit in time to have the work done by Feb. 1.

She has four generations of dogs and hopes to place some older ones so they won't have to be operated on if she is unable to reverse the court settlement.

One nearby resident says that she is "very angry" about the situation and doesn't believe the town has been fair to McIntire.

"She is being harassed beyond the point of endurance," said Elaine Courtemanche, who lives on the lake less than a half mile from McIntire.

"These are her own personal dogs and they're like family to her. We're here all the time and only hear her dogs bark once in a blue moon. We can hear other dogs bark from across the lake, so if her dogs are barking as much as people say they are, why can't we hear them?" Courtemanche said.

She said the charges against McIntire were unfair and believes selectmen should have investigated the situation more fully.  "There's a solution, It's called tolerance," Courtemanche said.

Reference:

The Union Leader

The Concord Monitor