NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A dog owner was ordered to rehome two of five pets over excessive barking. 

 

The new Animal Control Commission was finding its way last Thursday as it dealt with dog complaints, wildlife and neighbor disputes at its second meeting.

 

John Flaherty of East Avenue was ordered to license his dogs and remove two to bring his pack into compliance with the city's ordinances. 

 

His neighbor James Whitney has lodged complaints over the past three years, saying the dogs were barking at all hours of the night and brought a list of times when the noise had awakened him. 

 

"I understand dogs bark during the day," he said. "I can put up with that, but not at nighttime. There were 140 instances between Feb. 6 [2025] and Jan. 20 [2026], where I or my wife or both of us heard the dogs barking in the a.m."

 

Flaherty said all five dogs are rescues and he's made efforts to contain the dogs. He's fenced the yard as well and brought the dogs in when they've been barking and keeps them in the house while he works nights. 

 

"I get home at midnight when I'm working, OK, I let three dogs out. I tell you, they don't make a noise. Don't make a sound. I bring them back in," he said. "I've got the two little ones I let out. They'll yap little, but I can't recall any insistent barking after midnight in a long long time."

 

Police Chief Mark Bailey said officers have heard the dogs barking and that Flaherty has been cited by both the current and past animal control officers. 

 

"As of the writing of this report. I went to the city clerk, and none of the dogs are registered with the City of North Adams," the chief said. "I would like to get these dogs registered, which is the first and foremost incident that we have with this. But talking about the excessive barking, we also have issued citations to them. I don't know as of right now if they've been paid or not, but we need to come to some kind of resolution with that."

 

Flaherty told the commissioners first he hadn't gotten around to licensing the animals and "when I first got dogs, I never knew they needed a license until I got it fine." He said the fine was less than the license.

 

Building Inspector William Meranti said it was more than just licensing the dogs, by city ordinance, Flaherty was illegally operating a kennel because he had more than three dogs. He said he's tried to contact Flaherty repeatedly.

 

"To get a kennel license, you have to have acreage and be in the correct zone, which he is not in that zone," Meranti said. "So again, part of the unpleasantness of this is two dogs too many."

 

The commissioners voted to give Flaherty 30 days to rehome two dogs to bring him into compliance and, hopefully, reduce the noise, and to get his dogs properly licensed. 

 

Another complaint on Walnut Street was dismissed after Bailey said there was no evidence of barking dogs, no complaints from other neighbors, and that he wasn't sending his officers up there anymore. 

 

"What's happening is I'm sending officers up there 105 times. They're unsubstantiated," he said. "It's turned into just a waste of our time going up there ... I don't have any evidence of these dogs barking."

 

Sarah McLain said she'd purchased the home in part because it had a fenced yard for her two dogs. They do bark when an animal or person goes by, but not excessively, she said. 

 

"The dogs are always inside when we're not home" and at night, she said. "I don't believe they are nuisances. I did seek legal counsel, and we are working on a petition to have a harassment order put in place because there is so many calls."

 

Neighbor Anthony Sarkis said the dogs are barking right near his windows and he can't even talk on the phone. 

 

"Why can't they relocate the dogs? You know, because they're only about six feet from our bedroom and our living room and our laundry room," he said. "That still makes sense. They got plenty of room on the other side of the house."

 

Both Sarkis and McLain said there have been confrontations, with Sarkis saying McLain's partner swore at him and McLain that he had been antagonizing the dogs to get them barking. Both said they were looking at legal counsel. 

 

A third neighbor dispute was over the feeding of wild animals, with Karen Ferrara accusing neighbor Paula Randall of attracting bears and other wildlife. 

 

"Officers have been there numerous times to talk to Ferrara, to talk to Sweet-Randall," said Bailey. "Sweet-Randall mentioned that she was putting out bread. She did admit to feeding raccoons at one point when she was told to stop feeding the wildlife and that it's OK to have the bird seed out, she said that she did abide by that."

 

Randall said the bears like the black oil sunflower seeds she puts out but that they installed a fence; Ferrara said the fence has shifted the bears onto her property and spoke of several instances where they have been in her yard. She showed video evidence to the commissioners and said she sent 79 to the police. Randall called her a disgruntled neighbor. 

 

Bailey said the wildlife is becoming not only a nuisance but a public safety concern. 

 

"I do understand that they live on the side of a mountain, I get that," the chief said. "But the recommendation from me would be to remove the attractant, remove the bird seed, remove all the bread for a certain amount of time, and then see if this solves it."

 

Officials noted that the state has the third highest density of black bears in the nation, and that they are particularly prevalent in Western Massachusetts. 

 

"We've spent an extraordinary amount of time talking about this issue at Edgewood," said Meranti. "When we've told them to stop, they've stopped to our knowledge ... it's not incorrect to say they're coming for the food."

 

The commissioners ordered Randall to stop putting out birdseed for the next 60 days to see if there was any effect.