The Forums of Guanajuato

Is there an agency to file a report about a dog that is constantly barking? It's nerve wracking! I'm at my wits end!!!!

If you find one, let me know .... Also if you can find a way to stop my unemployed stay-at-home neighbor from playing Queen and Ranchero music at full volume from 8AM till 10PM (at least I get a little break) or the neighbor across the alley who got a karaoke setup last Christmas who goes from around 8 to midnight or the other neighbor boy just under my window that got a new giant boom box he parks at full volume under my kitchen window - then let me know about that too.

They don't include this in the brochure or "Joys of Moving to Mexico" Facebook groups, do they ;-)

It's my landlords dog. Is it a justification for breaking a lease?

Waymond maybe but I seriously doubt it. Dogs seem to be an aaccelged fact of life in Gto. Not that it’s right exactly butit would probably be a fight to get out of lease

Dear Waymond
As I tried to tell you last year, THIS IS MEXICO, NOT THE US. Mexico IS noisy, if not from dogs, or music, then from roosters, fireworks, motorcycles, church bells, etc, etc. If not your landlord’s dog it will be your neighbor’s dog, no matter where you live in Mexico. Try earplugs, they may help. You won’t be able to void your lease because of noise! Gloria

A very bad thing about all the social media groups that persuade people by the thousands to move here is that most of them will ban you or jump on you like a bunch of attack dogs (no pun intended) if you say anything negative about Mexico. And a "negative" can be as simple as the good info stated above. Sadly the ins and outs of living here are not totally communicable due to crowd-sourced censorship, as much talk is administrator-deleted when it doesn't paint the picture of Mexico that most people like to see. The reason for the facade is not always clear and can stem from simple newcomer civic pride to the complicated concern of extranjeros wishing to keep tourism up just so their often multiple business ventures are successful. Still this doesn't help you too much other than to verify how you simply may have been misinformed. And that doesn't stop the dog or get your lease broken. So I for one can completely empathize.

I've visited most popular cities in Mexico, some are better and some are worse but there's nothing much that helps to stop the noise. Even while traveling it can be bad to near unbearable. I have a standing warning to everyone I meet who travels extensively here - never pay for more than one night at a time at a hotel. (Money flows only one way here, by the way.) There's more often than not some lingering grand surprise in every hotel of any scale I've found. I recall 10 years ago in Antigua Guatemala, I was sick of the roosters all over town and found a hotel on the very edge of town with nothing but open fields beyond. So quiet and peaceful and the old wooden antique window beside my bed folded open to perfectly frame Antigua's largest volcano as a living portrait decorating my room. I think I fell asleep at 8PM that night, knowing I was in the most beautiful hotel of my life with the benefit of costing less than $30. I'd paid 3 days up front, incidentally. Then at 5:30AM the city buses began queuing up right under that beautiful window and blowing their air-horns one at a time about 5' below my bed while signaling each of their departures. This lasted from 5:30AM throughout most of the day.

Still that is not Guanajuato, but things are not much better here. GTO also suffers from being it's own amphitheater. If you don't hear your neighbor's dogs, you'll hear each and every one of them around the entire perimeter of the city. Same with the disco near the Pipila that used to blast deep into the night. Not sure if they shut it down as it now comes to mind or if I simply got used to it. I do know you can get angry and threaten and complain until the cows come home but the noise is here to stay. Unfortunately we live in a city that amplifies every noise that is made anywhere in the main part of the city. Thank God the trucks don't pass through el centro and the central road is so small it can't support them or I can't even imagine how horrible it would be to seek a peaceful night's rest.

If your are troubled as I have been from time to time by relentless noise, I'd investigate sub-letting the place (maybe to someone with a larger dog than your landlord) for a while. Still, finding an absolutely quiet place in Mexico is going to be near impossible. Even in the woods there are coyotes and owls that howl and screech against the moon. It's hard to find a peaceful setting any longer. I recall spending a few weeks on a tiny atoll off of Utila Caye in Honduras many years ago. It ended up too late that I discovered there was only one rooster on the island and he was next door to the bedroom of where I was staying. I asked several people what to do about it and finally one neighbor said to simply offer $20 for the bird and have him for dinner. I did so but rumor had gotten around that I was about to do away with him and an uprising turned the entire small populace against me. So on second thought, I'm probably not the best one to ask about the barking dog.

Mexico is a LOUD country. Remember that you are a guest and if you don't like your situation you should go somewhere else or, perhaps, go back to where you were happy.

GTO List .... tough crowd ;-)

I suggest you contact the city's Centro de Control Animal (CECA), ccontrolanimalgto@hotmail.com, or tel (473) 733 4839 during business hours. You will need to tell them the name of your neighbors and their address, but your report can be made confidentially. They will visit the household where the dog lives, and if the problem persists they may fine them. They do not have the authority to enter the home or remove the dog, however.

Sandra Ward

To the ones who offered reasonable, I thank you. My question was to find out if the was a reasonable suggestion to deal with the noise. I know Mexico is loud. Stopping short doing something drastic I reached out for advise.

To the one(e) that say move! I don't need or desire your advise. People like you are the main reason that I don't associate with too many expats!

Adios!!