Dear Sir,
As I read Mr. Tasca’s article about gas powered leaf blowers, I began to think about “noise pollution.”
I wonder if dogs barking all night long counts as noise pollution. Constant dog barking is very annoying and it also encourages other dogs in the neighborhood to bark as well.
In my neighborhood, the number of homes that seem to have an excessive number of dogs on the premises is astounding. Ten dogs at one house, next door to that six (it was 22 until the authorities stepped in and confiscated all but two), but the number is growing again.
It seems as if these poor dogs are left outside 24/7 – and they bark incessantly.
Barking seems to be worse at night. Dogs begin their raucous noise around 9:30 p.m. and continue the constant barrage into the wee hours. The sound of the dog fights through the fences is horrible and yet the owners don’t seem to hear a thing.
Many times people say, “This is Mexico – get used to it.” Is this an excuse to not be responsible good neighbors?
I do not permit my two small dogs to be a disruption at night. They stay inside, and I strive to keep them from being a nuisance during the day.
Owning dogs means being responsible for the animals as well as being considerate of your neighbors. People should not have to close up their home like a tomb (especially in summer), use a sound machine and ear plugs to try to sleep because neighbors won’t control their dogs.
As horrible as it is, I wonder if the recent dog poisonings might be a result of someones frustration of uncontrolled/unrestrained dogs, or barking dogs at night.
Many of us living at Lakeside would gladly trade the noise of a leaf blower for a few minutes during the day to the barking of dogs all night long so we can get a good night’s sleep.
L. Brown
Dear Sir,
Thank you for last week publishing the great letter by Robert Butler. He is right, it is a disgrace that the exercise equipment in Ajijic’s Malecon park has not been maintained – abandoned is the correct term.
We are still waiting for an appointment with the director of Jardines y Parques, Jose Luis Hernandez, to deliver a petition, signed by 117 citizens and foreign residents, asking Chapala authorities to consider enclosing the exercise area with a chain link fence and place a padlock on it, and – importantly – restore the equipment.
Our little village has lots of well-meaning people who are putting “their money where their mouths are” to help make Ajijic a better place to live. What we lack is the government’s interest in maintaining what they already have in place.
For example, about 18 months ago, a senior snowbird who used the Malecon equipment daily gave the interim Ajijic delegado the equivalent of US$150 to help pay for the restoration. They just took her money, of course.
Exercise equipment on the Ajijic Malecon.
Also, a Mexican woman is volunteering to replace (at her own cost) one of the two palapa structures located just east of the basketball court. They too are suffering a lack of maintenance. She knows from personal experience how useful they are to provide shade for picnics and small events.
For my own part, I gathered enough donations in no time to locate the planters at the corners around the center of town and plant them with flowering trees.
Another example is the children’s play equipment located in the Malecon park. Several years ago, the federal government donated two sets. Our last delegado removed one set completely, while the current one took away the slide from the remaining set and never replaced it.
In addition, I am now paying to clean the fountain that Ricardo and I donated several years ago because the Chapala government has cut the garden staff so short. If not done each week the leaves and seeds from the Ficus trees can burn up the pump. (I have personally bought three pumps; Harry Bublin bought the other.) The government has never bought one, but placed their name clearly on the plaque when it was dedicated – as if they gave a hoot about it!
We don’t need any more big projects such as Pueblo Magico. We need some of our tax funds sent back to Ajijic to maintain what we already have!
Tom Thompson and Ricardo Quirarte