It was one of the last things Bruce and Rita Bond expected to see while leaving their house for the gym.
On Thursday, June 9, the retired couple backed out of the garage of the Village of Oak Creek home to see the word “STOP” spray painted in black letters on either side of the garage.
When they closed the garage door, in 2-foot high letters it read “STOP Dog BARKS ALL Day STOP,” with “ALL” circled.
“I was angry and puzzled,” Bruce Bond said of first seeing the vandalism. “Our dog does not bark all day.”
They immediately contacted the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy came out and interviewed them as well as neighbors as far down as a half-block away from their home on House Rock Road. The deputy said neighbors had heard the Doberman/Dachshund mix bark on occasion but nothing excessive, Bond said.
“She’s inside most of the time,” he said. “Sometimes she goes out the cat door onto the screened-in porch. She may bark at a passing truck now and then but it’s definitely not all the time. We really don’t know who may have done this — we can’t nail it down.”
The Bonds said they plan to install video surveillance cameras and motion-sensored lighting on that side of the house in the event it happens again. They also said they will be more aware of their dog’s occasional barking and in the spirit of being good neighbors do what they can to help prevent it.
“We’re concerned that someone mean enough to spray paint our house may be mean enough to throw poisoned meat over the fence,” he said.
