# The nightmare next door **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817 "2012-08-08T02:28:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/21 "2012-08-09T12:52:58Z")
Zoning issues aside, ain’t no way in hell I’d board my dogs in a place like that. Chase the bastards off. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/22 "2012-08-09T12:56:13Z")
I’m having trouble thinking of a motive for these kennel owners beyond massive stupidity and ignorance (both, not an either-or proposition). We don’t owe a lot to the ignorant fools we live among, but we do owe them a bit, and consequently I think you and/or your brother need to get moving on this right away, like, today, before these idiots waste any more of their money building a business that they’ll obviously have to tear down. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/23 "2012-08-09T16:25:47Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > That is the issue the City officials seemed to get excited about, washing dog shit into the storm drain system, which goes untreated into the Missouri River. Yup. That’s not good, and since the City owns the storm drain, they’re liable for the pollution, too. The state environmental agency might also be interested if the City doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/24 "2012-08-09T16:51:48Z")
Do you know it’s a dog kennel, and not a dog breeding operation, or something else? Could there be different laws they’re breaking, depending on which it is? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/25 "2012-08-09T17:21:40Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Do you know it’s a dog kennel, and not a dog breeding operation, or something else? Could there be different laws they’re breaking, depending on which it is? It’s an existing business, currently located 4 blocks away that has outgrown their old location. They have a sign on the building, and even bought a billboard announcing the move. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/26 "2012-08-09T18:06:25Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Zoning issues aside, ain’t no way in hell I’d board my dogs in a place like that. Chase the bastards off. This, as a dog lover, is what my biggest concern is. Certainly though, if I were living next door, I’d probably be even more angry about the whole set up. Anyway, have you considered writing up a Yelp review of this place-- along with your photos of their new set up and the fact that there have been no permits-- to warn dog owners of the type of place this facility is. If they are cutting corners LEGALLY, who knows what corners they are cutting within the facility with the dogs. Hell, if you don’t want to do it, you can PM me their name and I’d be happy to do a write up (I’m a verified, blah blah bah fancy Yelp reviewer). ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/27 "2012-08-10T16:40:27Z")
OK, a city inspector visited the site and issued a “stop work” order, and all the construction workers left the site. Apparently a bunch of fencing to hold a large number of dogs is _not_ a “kennel”. I don’t know how that is true, but they are claiming that a kennel is solely a place where a dog sleeps. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/28 "2012-08-10T17:40:27Z")
OK, so the code says: \* Kennels provided that all buildings and pens shall be located not less than 200 feet from any residentially zoned district.\* Even if those dog runs are not “kennels”, they damn sure are pens. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/29 "2012-08-10T18:07:23Z")
Well that sounds positive for you … and negative for them. \ “It’s a good thing.” \ ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/30 "2012-08-14T22:58:24Z")
Update: Worked stopped, but the owner of the nightmare is continuing to pursue finishing it. He [put a huge vinyl sign on the fence](http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/5286/vinylsign.jpghttp://), as if it were going to block [the smell](http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/9119/dumpsterf.jpg) and the noise. I spoke to him today, and he kept repeating that he had “spoken to his attorney” and that everything was legally OK (in spite of being in blatant violation of zoning). He claimed that the pens were not “pens” but “animal containment areas”. The deal I offered him was not shutting his current location down in return for him stopping all work at this one. I’ve tried to avoid mentioning a location, but I find I need to. The business is _[Pooch’s Paradise](http://poochesparadise.com/)_. The current location at 218 W 74th St in Kansas City, MO is also zoned M1 and the dog pens they are operating at that address are [also less than 200 feet from a residential zoned area](http://goo.gl/maps/eLDKm). [Here is where they are planning to move to](http://goo.gl/maps/iYWNM). ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/31 "2012-08-14T23:10:34Z")
Sounds like a rules lawyering loophole kind of jackass. Stick it to the inconsiderate bastard if he won’t reconsider. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/32 "2012-08-14T23:11:45Z")
You should probably talk to a lawyer of your own and stop talking to the other business owner. Don’t offer him deals of any kind. He’s welcome to try and explain to the City or a Judge why his “animal containment area” is not a “pen” and why draping his business in vinyl sheets is a proper construction technique. He’s clearly in the wrong; anything you say to him might just give him ammunition for claiming you’re harassing him. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/33 "2012-08-14T23:17:02Z")
Good advice there IMO. But still stick it to them legally 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/34 "2012-08-15T00:12:19Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > You should probably talk to a lawyer of your own and stop talking to the other business owner. It was just one of those situations where I was walking past when he was driving up, and I asked “Does that look like two hundred feet?” Luckily neither of us was recording the conversation. > [@](#): > > He’s clearly in the wrong; anything you say to him might just give him ammunition for claiming you’re harassing him. I’m leaving town right now for a week. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/35 "2012-08-15T00:21:48Z")
I’ve been following this thread with great interest, since I know this neighborhood well (went to high school right across State Line from the duplex). Please keep us updated, **gaffa**. I’d also reiterate others’ advice that your brother should really speak to an attorney ASAP. This is advice – for what it’s worth – from an attorney. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/36 "2012-08-15T09:49:57Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > My brother has put every last dime into renovating a pair of duplex homes in Kansas City, Missouri. He has made them into really nice rental units. This is not the usual flipper behavior of slapping on some paint, but gut rehabbing the kitchen and bathroom, completely re-wiring the buildings, new plumbing, heating and air conditioning, washer and dryer upstairs, heated tile floor…the works. > > For years, we had a commercial property next door that manufactured medical valves. Light manufacturing, and never heard a peep out of them. Great neighbors. > > They moved out to the burbs, and the building sat empty for two years. And a nightmare in moving in. A dog kennel. > > The parking lot is between my brother’s building and their building. And [they have erected fences for dog runs](http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1408/fromfrontofhouse.jpg). They are putting the dumpster, which will presumably be full of dog shit, [right by my brother’s unit’s driveway](http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2406/dumpsterframe.jpg)! > > I have called the city, and they confirmed that there were no building permits issued. They are doing this on the cheap, to [judge from the amateurish quality](http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/5638/pooptrench1.jpg) of the work. They [cut a poop trench in the parking lot](http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/340/pooptrench2.jpg), intending to wash the dog shit and pee into the storm drains! > > Just this evening, they put up very bright lights, shining right into the bedroom windows of the unit! > > What to do? How can we stop this nightmare, that will destroy my brother’s apartment rentals value? **Time to lawyer up!** ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/37 "2012-08-15T10:37:47Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The business is _[Pooch’s Paradise](http://poochesparadise.com/)_. Paradise? They keep using that word. I do not think it means what they think it means. There’s a kennel in my county called Pet Paradise. The exercise yard is at least 2 acres, grassy, and perfect for dogs to run and frolic - That’s a pet’s paradise! Your bro should most definitely get a lawyer. Does one of the local TV stations have a consumer advocate? Maybe a story about a business claiming to care for dogs but planning to keep them in a place like that would get some attention?? But lawyer for sure. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/38 "2012-08-20T20:08:52Z")
I returned from a trip out of town, and they are back to work. I filed another complaint with the city. For all those people saying “Hire a lawyer”…hire a lawyer to do _what_, exactly? They are in violation of city zoning codes, and they should not be able to get their animal welfare license, but they seem to be continuing anyway, as if the fix was in. The _City_ should be stopping them. We need this shit to stop before the shit starts piling up. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/39 "2012-08-20T20:20:21Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I’ve tried to avoid mentioning a location, but I find I need to. The business is _[Pooch’s Paradise](http://poochesparadise.com/)_. The current location at 218 W 74th St in Kansas City, MO is also zoned M1 and the dog pens they are operating at that address are [also less than 200 feet from a residential zoned area](http://goo.gl/maps/eLDKm). [Here is where they are planning to move to](http://goo.gl/maps/iYWNM). I’ve been keeping my eye out for a place in Waldo, you brother have any empty units? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817/40 "2012-08-20T20:35:02Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I returned from a trip out of town, and they are back to work. I filed another complaint with the city. > > For all those people saying “Hire a lawyer”…hire a lawyer to do _what_, exactly? They are in violation of city zoning codes, and they should not be able to get their animal welfare license, but they seem to be continuing anyway, as if the fix was in. The _City_ should be stopping them. We need this shit to stop before the shit starts piling up. You may be surprised to learn that you actually can sue the city to force their hand. It’s called a “writ of mandamus” or in some states, “mandate” (and it may even have other names) but essentially you sue the government for not doing a thing they are obligated to do. So yeah, if you want to go that route, it exists. > **[Mandamus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandamus)** > > A writ of mandamus (/mænˈdeɪməs/; lit. ''we command'') is a judicial remedy in the English and American common law system consisting of a court order that commands a government official or entity to perform an act it is legally required to perform as part of its official duties, or to refrain from performing an act the law forbids it from doing. Writs of mandamus are usually used in situations where a government official has failed to act as legally required or has taken a legally prohibited act... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nightmare-next-door/630817.md?page=3)