The Final Chapter?

I'm hoping that last night was the final chapter in the sad, sordid drama which has rendered this neighborhood.  People who used to call each other friends, now do not speak or worse, they lie about those with whom the disagree. It's a sad, sad day.  But, perhaps, we are looking at the final chapter in this drama.

Nearly three years ago, the neighbors decided that they were going to operate a donkey rescue.  Last night, the case was presented to the Bernalillo County Commissioners.

It was an interesting proceeding. The Order of Presentation was, as follows:

1. Staff presentation - 5 minutes
2. Appellants presentation - 25 minutes
3. Opponent(s) presentation - 30 minutes
4. Appellant's summation or rebuttal - 5 minutes
5. Appellant's and opponent's questions - 5 minutes (moderated by the Chair)
6. Staff closure - 2 minutes
7. Board discussion and questions
8. Action

Nick Hamm, the Zoning Commissioner who made the initial ruling, informed the Commissioners that the 20% rule was applicable based upon a petition from the opposition. The 20% rule is an interesting thing and, to tell you the truth, I'm not exactly sure how it works. Zoning has a formula to determine if those signing the petition make enough of a force to make the rule applicable. The only ones who can sign the Petition of Opposition are those whose homes are either within 100 feet or abutting the land seeking the zoning change. In addition to the petition, a print out of the Zoning map for those properties needs to be submitted with it and on that plat, the signatories need to be indicated on the plats of land that they occupy. Of the 8 plats of land that fit the criteria, 6 signed the petition.  What application of the 20% rule does is require that a "super majority" of the Commissioners vote to overturn the decision of the Board of Adjustment.  In other words, to overturn the previous decision of denying the conditional use permit, 4 of the Commissioners were needed to vote FOR the appellants.

For more info on the 20% rule, click here!

The vote was taken and the Commissioners in a 4 -1 ballot  voted against granting the neighbors a conditional use permit. The vote was based upon testimony that has been presented at zoning meetings, in letters, in front of the Board of Adjustment, and that which was stated last night.

Hopefully now, the neighborhood can begin to heal.

I really feel sorry...

I really feel sorry for the neighbor's donkeys.

The poor things have no shelter in this bitter cold weather.  Weather that has already seen two snowfalls since Oct 15 and temps down in the single digits.  Those poor donkeys, their personal pets, are stuck in the backyard in these horrible conditions, conditions that neither man nor beast should have to suffer.

Several years back, Bernalillo County mandated that livestock MUST have shelter if kept in small areas, in other words, if they are not out on the open range but are kept in paddocks, etc.  At the time, I spoke against increasing animal rights encroachments upon the property rights of animal owners.  I still do not agree with the greatest part of the animal ordinance, but I can see the value of this portion, especially after seeing their animals suffer from being out in the elements.

In the past, the neighbors were cited for not having any shelters for the adoption donkeys.  After being cited, they built some run-in sheds for that group of animals.  However, those donkeys are easily seen by anyone traveling up and down County Line Road, whereas, their personal donkeys are kept in the backyard, which is hidden from the general public's view.  So, their pets go without and their pets have been going without for several years now.

The poor things...  They are out there in the rain, in the snow, in ice storms, etc. Their only shelter is provided by the lee of the house and that only protects from the north and west.  If we get a sou'wester, the animals will be even more exposed to the elements.

Donkeys Out in the Rain, Summer 2013

This past summer, during a bad storm, they were standing in the rain as it poured down in buckets. There was no escape and little protection from the rain provided by the remaining trees in the yard.  I'm quickly becoming of the opinion that the neighbors should not have any animals, let alone donkeys.

Now it's cold and conditions are not dry. There is nothing worse than being cold & wet. I've seen the donkeys with icicles hanging off of them!  Surely, that cannot be good for them.  It is very sad.

Poor things....

Don't Let The Rain Come Down....

In the mornings, as we drink our coffee, we like to watch Steve Stucker on Channel 4, KOB-TV.  This morning, he was saying that the state will be getting more rain today and for several days more.  Now then, I like rain and we've been in a drought and the state NEEDS the rain, but come on now...  can we have one sunny day or a couple of sunny hours between storms?  For some reason, a song from the 1960's is running through my brain, "Don't Let the Rain Come Down (Crooked Little Man)".  It's a cute song by the Serendipity Singers and I believe it reached #2 during 1964, right behind the Beatles!



The refrain goes...

Ah Ah Oh No Don't Let the rain come down,
Ah Ah Oh No Don't Let the rain come down,
Ah Ah Oh No Don't Let the rain come down,
My roof's got a hole in it and I might drown...
Oh yes, my roof's got a hole in it and I might drown.

I know...  I know....  no complainin' when it's rainin'.  However, most of the state continues to be under flood watches and flood warnings.  While we are OK up here on our hill, many in the state are not OK.  Lives have been lost and homes destroyed.  It's bad, folks, and many formerly dry arroyos and river beds are flowing full, hard, and fast.

Flood Watches & Warnings on Mon, Sep 16

The hounds & I have been pretty much house bound because of the mud.  Our drive, rather than having puddles, has a lake.  Yesterday, I took a shovel and dug a small trench to help drain the drive.  Makes me feel like I'm living in a rural, red neck area because I can go "mud bogging" in the front yard!

Mud Bog in Front Drive

Mud in this neck of the woods is its own life form.  Anyone who has any experience with it knows why they use it to make bricks and adobe homes.  Once it hardens, there is no removing it.  When you walk in it, you grow by inches.  Years ago, whippet owner & vet, Lisa Costello, wrote a poem about "mud...  Albuquerque mud."  I surely wish I had kept that poem.

The neighbor's donkey paddocks down by the road have standing water in them. The poor critters are standing in mud & muck.  As I drove by on Saturday to go to the yarn store, where I'd not been in two weeks, I couldn't help but notice the mud caked onto their hooves.  The picture below was taken on Saturday, Sept 14 at 9:44 a.m., when I was driving past.  Poor things!

Edgewood Longears Safehouse Flooded Donkey Pen

As bad as the donkeys have it, a new neighbor to the south is getting it worse.  The flow going through that flood area (yes, the donkey pens are built in a flood drainage area), is to the south.  All the water that has gone through those pens has settled in the one to two acre field that is housing two horses.  At least, the horses have grass underfoot.  They don't have to stand in mud.

Ah ah...  oh no....  don't let the rain come down....

Stalking Me...

The other day, Wednesday, we had a landscaper come to check out the front yard where I want to plant some trees and bushes.  There are multiple reasons for the plantings.

1. To effect a repair of an area destroyed by the neighbors' donkeys;
2. To serve as a visual barrier between the yards;
3. To hide from view their destroyed property, which is an eyesore, and the piles of trash that litter the place;
4. To help serve as somewhat of a 'noise break'; 
5. To help serve as a windbreak; and
6. To, hopefully, create a better curbside appeal, to show that most of us in this neighborhood have some pride of ownership.

Yesterday, after speaking with the landscaper on the phone, I was in my front yard, staring down the fence line, looking at the damage, and conceptualizing where we are going to place three tall pine trees and some wire fencing to protect them from the neighbors' donkeys.  I also scoped out dead & dying trees and shrubs for the landscape crew to remove...  trees & shrubs on my property that have been killed by the neighbors' donkeys.

So, while I'm out there, one of the neighbors just had to come outside to stare at me.  I don't know if they were trying to intimidate me, harass me, or what.  Nothing was said, they just stared.  It was most uncomfortable as I kept expecting a bullet in my back. If I walked anywhere, they followed, never saying anything...  just staring...  kinda like a stalker.  They are just rude.

They say, "good fences make good neighbors".  Seeing that fence should tell you something.  I can't fix it, it's their property and it's posted.  I took a chance once before to keep an animal from ingesting a plastic bag, not again.  After all, in their own words, if I were to trespass or bother their property, they could, "blow me away".  Nice....  huh....

Being stalked in Edgewood.....

Noise & Stuff

Since our return from Newport, R.I., the donkeys have been very vocal. Maybe it's the cooler weather; maybe they have new donkeys; maybe they have jennies in season.  But they've been very, very vocal.  For instance, last night they started braying at 9:54 p.m. and they continued to bray until 10:07 p.m. - NON STOP!  It wasn't just one donkey, but a whole passel of them...  Mr. Squeaky, Foghorn, and one or two others.

Yesterday afternoon, Karen K. & I went to visit with Mrs. Perea, a neighbor.  Mrs. Perea is a sweet lady who had 82 years of life under her belt.  She's a lovely woman and she does not like the donkeys. One reason for her dislike is she is not in the best of health and the donkeys prevent her from getting a proper amount of rest.  Another reason is that she wants to sell her home, but she's concerned (legitimately) that having a small herd of donkeys so close to her home will affect the property's value. The donkey paddock in the valley is about 300' from her house and 45' from her fence line.

Mrs. Perea has good cause to be concerned and she isn't alone in her concerns about the effect that the establishment of a donkey rescue will have on property values.  It is a well known fact that animal noise and bad neighbors can and will reduce property values up to 20%!  So, if your home is appraised for sale at $100,000, you will only get about $80,000 for it.  That is a considerable chunk of change to lose!  Face it, for most of us, our homes are the biggest investment we have.  We have dumped many hundreds of thousands of dollars into our homes: purchase, taxes, insurance, improvements, and repairs, only to have our investment evaporate due to bad neighbors and noisy animals.

According to an article, Seven Neighborhood Threats to YourHome's Value, by Brian O'Connell, published in MSN Real Estate, bad neighbors can seriously affect the value of one's property.  Real estate professionals say that a bad neighbor is any home or business that turns people off.  

"A bad neighbor is one that has no consideration for the rest of the community," says Mindy Pordes, co-founder of Pordes Residential Sales & Marketing in Aventura, FL. "For example, someone who doesn't take care of the outside appearance of the home, such as the gardening, painting of the outside of the home, roof, garbage, and general upkeep.  In addition, a bad neighbor may have constant visitors taking up parking spaces, perhaps on the street, loud house parties, dogs that bark all night or stray cats lingering around."

Another article, Nine Things That Will Trash Your Home's Value, published in Business Insider on May 15, 2013 states 

"A nearby property's overgrown yard, peeling paint, and clutter can easily knock 5% to 10% off the sale price of your home, said Joe Magdziarz, the president of the Appraisal Institute and a real-estate appraiser with 40 years of experience.  A true disaster – a junky home in deplorable condition and a yard packed with debris – could cost you even more."

Our neighbors, Mr. Cross & Ms. Lotter, fit the description of "bad neighbors".  They have accumulated piles of trash and junk on their property, making their yard 'unkempt'.  The trash and junk are eyesores, as are the run in sheds in the donkey yards as they are in need of repair.  They have not been taking care of their home and there is missing siding, odd materials used to patch the house, old tires around the base, and, in general, it is an eyesore and in desperate need of repair. 

The same Business Insider article goes on to state, 

"Noisy neighbors (or their pets) are enough to drag home values down by 5 – 10%.   There's a reason prospective home buyers are advised to make multiple visits to homes and at all times of the day: Noise can be a property value killer."

The noise; the lack of upkeep; the piles of trash & junk; all of them result in decreasing the property values of the other homes around them.  The homes directly affected as they share property lines with these people and their noisy animals are:

1046 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $189,000)
1052 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $296,000)
1038 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $253,500)
17 Whispering Elms (Zillow estimate - $187,600)
2 Log Cabin Lane (Zillow estimate - $168,200)
8 Log Cabin Lane (Zillow estimate - $167,500)
12 Log Cabin Lane (Zillow estimate - $172,200)

Other homes in close vicinity, especially those adjacent to where they hide donkeys at 12 Log Cabin Lane and 1058 County Line Road are:

14 Log Cabin Lane (Zillow estimate - $200,700)
5 Whispering Elms (Zillow estimate - $178,600)
1056 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $162,100)
1058 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $290,900)
1081 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $276,300)

It's rumored that they have several other places where they are hiding donkeys in a never-ending shell game. I know I've personally seen a couple of donkeys down on Quiet Valley Loop, which is where one of their supporters lives.  Of course, there were only 2 donkeys at the Quiet Valley Loop location, not a herd of 13 or more.  Makes a difference with regard to noise.

Some examples of noisy donkeys in the news include:

Reese Witherspoon, neighbors complaining about noise levels

Neighbors in Brussels complain about Lola.

Joseph, the Brierley donkey heard 2 miles away

Donkey stories on Horse & Hound


Other donkeys have made the news for other reasons:

Abandoned donkeys

Donkeys Maul & Kill Pensioner

Texas Mayor Killed in Donkey Attack

By the way, BernCo Animal Services was called last night about the noise, just to notate how long they brayed.  

Hopes Dashed Upon the Rocks of Government...

Well, our hopes were dashed upon the rocks of government.

The Bernalillo County Board of Adjustment, the members of which include: Linda Barbour (Vice Chair), Steve Becerra, Toby Atencio, George Castillo (Chair), and Bernie Sanchez, gave them, yet again, another deferral, which they requested the day after the signs were to be posted.  I guess I should be happy.  It was ONLY a 60-day deferral, not the 90-days that they requested.  Yet, I'm not happy.  They should have not only been denied their request, their appeal should have been thrown out entirely!

You see, the appeals packet has a page, a contract agreement, that states they shall post the zoning signs 15-days prior and keep them posted for 15-days post hearing.  The appellants, Andrew Cross & Dorothea Lotter d/b/a Edgewood Longears Safehouse, did not post the signs until 3-days prior to the hearing.  That contract page states that failure to post and maintain those signs shall be cause for the appeal to be either deferred OR denied.

The reason I say that the referral and the appeal should have been denied is because the signs were to be posted on July 23.  They did not post the signs.  On July 24, they submitted a letter requesting a 90-day deferral.  I submitted a letter on or around Aug 1 requesting that the deferral request be denied, citing the obvious - no signs - and that it was an obvious ploy to get yet another deferral. The signs were posted, after they were contacted by someone, probably zoning, just 3 days prior to the hearing.  Then, the Board of Adjustment grants them another deferral.

These people have received deferral after deferral; extension after extension and they are STILL BREAKING THE LAW!

Enough already!

Lack of Civility

When did it become acceptable to be uncivil?  To be rude?

It seems like in this day & age, rudeness is not only acceptable, it is encouraged and excused!  "Oh...  he's just expressing himself...  He's practicing his 'freedom of speech'..."

Neighbors Donkeys 

Freedom of speech?  Perhaps, but others also have the right to be free from YOUR speech.  It is OK to disagree with someone, but do it with civility.

Another example of people being uncivil is one of my neighbors. We are in the middle of a dispute with them as they want to open a donkey rescue right next door.  Now then, if they were on 10 acres of ground, that wouldn't be an issue.  However, they are on less than 3 acres in the middle of a residential neighborhood!  So, many of us, the neighbors, are opposed to having these very noisy animals in our backyards.  In my case, some of those very noisy animals are parked 50' from my bedroom window.  I tell you, there's nothing quite like being startled out of a sound sleep by the sound of a Navy submarine dive klaxon.

Even so, no harm is wished upon the animals.  They cannot help what they are.  So, when I saw one of the neighbor's donkeys eating a plastic bag, I did the neighborly thing and started talking to it, hoping to get it to stop eating the bag.  It worked and the animal dropped it.  That's a good thing!  An ingested plastic bag can cause all kinds of problems:  twisted intestine, colic, impacted bowels, etc.  None of them are good and all of them are potentially deadly to the animal, let alone costly to treat.

My neighbor & owner of the donkeys, Dorothea, was walking down the hill.  When she was within speaking distance, I told her about the bag and that she may want to remove the it from the yard so he didn't start eating it again.  She totally blew me off and ignored both the bag & the animal.  When he saw her, thankfully, he mosied on over to her and I reached through the shared fence and removed the bag.  Problem solved!  I hollered over to her that the bag was removed so she didn't have to worry about it.  Much to my chagrin & surprise, she proceeded to give me a ration of shit, telling me to stay away from the donkeys which have been eating my front yard!  WTF????  Here I am doing her a favor and she's giving me a ration of shit?  Telling me to stay out of an area of my front yard?  Who the hell does she think she is?????  I'll go anywhere I please in my front yard.

So, I walked over to her and gave her the bag.  She never shut up...  haranguing me...  Turned my back and told her she was an "ungrateful wench" and that her donkeys could choke on the damned bags the next time.

That's just one example of being uncivil.  There are many, many more...

When does it end? Sleep Deprivation....

As expected, the neighbors with the asses are appealing the decision of the zoning commissioner handed down on 14 May 2013.  The appeal, which is to be heard in front of the County Commissioners, is set for 7 August 2013.  Another 2 months of our neighbors breaking existing laws and continuing to get away with it.

Right now, it's 6:55 a.m. as I type this, the asses are braying.  In fact, they've been braying off & on (mostly on) since around 5:00 a.m.  The other night, in order to get some much needed sleep, I took a Tramadol (pain killer) and drank a glass of wine so it would knock me out.  That is beyond sad...  It can be dangerous to my health but I desperately needed some uninterrupted sleep.  How did I know it was time for desperate measures with regard to my sleep?  The other day, I found myself on the phone with my friend, Laurel, alternating between episodes of uncontrolled giggling and then uncontrolled sobbing.  Not good and I'm mentally sound.  She recommended I take a nap.  I tried, only to have that nap destroyed by donkeys braying 50' from my bedroom window.

It's now 7:05 a.m. and they haven't shut up for the past 10 minutes.

There are numerous studies out there showing strong links between sleep deprivation and mental health issues.  Having worked in the health industry, I've seen what happens when people don't get enough sleep.  Sometimes, those suffering from a severe lack of sleep have to be incarcerated in mental health facilities for their own safety and for the safety of others.  That is a sad but true fact.

Some of the consequences of sleep deprivation include, but are not limited to:

2 of 5 donkeys 50' from bedroom window

Increased risk of stroke - A study of 5,666 people, presented at the SLEEP 2012 conference, shows that middle- to older-aged people who regularly get fewer than six hours of sleep a night have an increased stroke risk, even without a history of stroke, obesity, and obstructive sleep apnea.  "These people sleeping less than six hours had a four times increased risk of experiencing these stroke symptoms..." according to study researcher Megan Ruiter. 

Can lead to obesity - Too little sleep can influence less-than-ideal food choices, including larger portions and cravings for junk food, thanks to hormonal changes that occur when you don't get enough sleep. Six (6) hours of sleep or less increases production of the hunger hormone ghrelin, which decreases insulin sensitivity (a risk factor for diabetes) and it spurs decreases in the hormone leptin (which is key for energy balance and food intake). Leptin helps balance your food intake, according to a 2012 review of 18 studies of sleep and appetite.

Increase the risk of Diabetes - A pair of small studies from 2012 examined the link between poor sleep and insulin resistance, a telltale risk factor for diabetes. One found that among healthy teenagers, the shortest sleepers had the highest insulin resistance, meaning the body is not using insulin effectively, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The second study examined fat cells, in particular, and found that cutting back on sleep increased insulin resistance in these cells, even when diet and calorie intake were restricted, Health.com reported.

Brain degereration and memory loss -  According to a new study by the University of California, Berkely, a connection between poor sleep and memory storage has been found. Sleep deprivation is connected with brain degeneration and memory loss in older adults according to UC Berkeley sleep researcher Matthew Walker. 

Contributes to Osteoporosis 

The time is 7:17 a.m. and they are still braying.

Increase the Risk of Cancer - Research suggests that short and poor sleep can up risk for certain types of cancer. A 2010 study found that among 1,240 people screened for colorectal cancer, the 338 who were diagnosed were more likely to average fewer than six hours of sleep a night. Polyps were more common in people who slept less.

Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Disease & Death

Increased Mental Health Issues & Death -  Among young people who already suffered from anxiety; in this group, lack of sleep triggered more serious mental health problems like full-blown depression and even bipolar disorder, according to the study’s lead author, Professor Nick Glozier. But even among those who began the study in good health, less than five hours of sleep meant tripling their odds of psychological distress. Then, there is the increased risk of death.

"....the days got worse & worse, now you see I've gone completely out of my mind. They're coming to take me away ha haaa...  they're coming to take me away ho ho hee hee ha hah to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time..."  And where there are no donkeys braying.

Pancho (above video) is what we hear and we hear that noise at all hours of the day & night...  At midnight (12:00 a.m.), 1:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m., etc.

At the tone, the time is 8:01 a.m. and they are still braying. When does this end?

Braying Asses

Last night, I was looking forward to a good night's sleep.  I was exhausted from a day of working in the garden, moving bags of compost & soil, moving large clay pots, working the soil, and planting.  All of which was then topped by the stresses of dealing with braying asses - human & equine.

Needless to say, it was a bit of a surprise when I had a hard time falling asleep last night.  Don't know why, but even the ever reliable relaxation exercises weren't working. Finally, I fell asleep sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.

I don't know why I even bothered with the exercises to sleep.  At 12:38 a.m., a braying ass awakened me.  It was one of the neighbor's personal asses. How do I know?  The decibel level.  The closer the braying ass, the louder it is.

So, what is a decibel?  The decibel (dB) is the unit used to measure the intensity of a sound. The  human ear is incredibly sensitive, allowing one to hear everything from your fingertips brushing over your skin to a loud rock concert. On the decibel scale, the smallest audible sound (near total silence) is 0 dB. A sound 10 times more powerful is 10 dB. A sound 100 times more powerful than near total silence is 20 dB. A sound 1,000 times more powerful than near total silence is 30 dB.

Decibel Levels of Common Noises

Now then, just how loud is a donkey?


According to those who dwell with donkeys, a donkey's braying can be heard at least 1.75 miles (3 kilometers) away, making it much louder than the call of a horse or mule. The main purpose of this peculiarly loud sound is to allow the animal to be in contact with other donkeys across the vast desert distances.  That's loud.

Here's a blurb about the adverse affects of noise.

"There are adverse physical and mental effects from noise. For example, prolonged periods of exposure to 65 dBA can cause mental and bodily fatigue. Furthermore, noise can affect the quantity and quality of sleep; cause permanent hearing damage; contribute to the development or aggravation of heart and circulatory diseases; and transform a person's initial annoyance into more extreme emotional responses and behavior." (Marsh, A. 1999. University of Western Australia, School of Architecture and Fine Arts. Cited in East of Huajatolla Citizens Alliance. Noise.)

I can honestly say that I am suffering from several of these effects: mental & bodily fatigue, lack of quality sleep, and some extreme emotional response, i.e., crying over gray hairs.

To give you an idea of what a donkey bray sounds like, please click on one of the links.  To have an idea of what this sounds like at 4:00 a.m. or some other time in the dark of the night, turn up the volume in a silent room.

Braying Audio (short)

Braying Audio (longer)

It's bad enough that the braying woke me up after just falling asleep.  However, the damned things started braying, again, around 4 a.m., waking me up.  I fell back asleep rather quickly with the phone in my hand as I was going to call the sheriff.

Sigh...

Back in 2008, our neighbor directly below our home was Steve M,  his wife, and his brother.  For their faults, they were decent neighbors.  When the family broke up, the house was sold to a couple, Dorothea & Andrew, who came to New Mexico from the west coast.  They too seemed to be good neighbors...  that is, up until they decided that they were going to establish a donkey rescue on less than 3 acres of land.  Sigh....

Spring of 2009, we saw them taking their donkeys for a walk and thought...  isn't that cute.  They had 2 donkeys that looked like twins.  We enjoyed seeing them.

Then, not too long after, they added a 3rd donkey.  Still, all was OK as the animals were being kept down below in the paddock which had formerly been occupied by Yvonne's horse, Capitan.  (Yvonne owned the property prior to Steve.) After the addition of the 3rd donkey, things start to get a bit fuzzy with regard to timeline. And, like people with kids, they soon discovered that 3's a crowd and they added a 4th.

Somewhere during this time, they brought in 21 donkeys!  WTF????

Rob & I went down below to their place and expressed our concerns re: 21 donkeys and the noise they make.  Andrew assured us that "it's only temporary...  when these are gone, no more..." yadda yadda yadda.  We believed him.  We noticed tho' that the donkeys never left.  By this time, one of them started braying very loudly.  He sounded like the dive klaxon on a Navy submarine. It was very, very loud, especially at 3:00 AM.  Sigh....

Back down to the neighbor's house...  express said concerns....  receive reassurances....  yadda yadda yadda....

Months later, there's still about 20 donkeys there and they're expanding the corrals, which was needed. However, the animals are still there....  they ain't leaving...  they're still braying all hours of the day & night, altho' it seems that the noisiest one is quieter.  In fact, at one point in time, I counted 25 or 26 donkeys in the corral. Too many animals...  not enough space.

However, a new problem reared its ugly head...  They are now keeping 4 large donkeys in their backyard.  The donkeys are eating the trees and pushing on the fence. The donkeys have eaten my Leyland Cypress, which I planted for a windbreak.  They've eaten my sage  bushes.  They've cleaned a 3' wide swath of land all the way down to bare earth.  I'm not pleased.

Donkey Eating My Shrubs

Three of the Four 

Then, there was the smell.  The donkeys in the backyard are much closer to our bedroom window (within 50') and when it rains, it stinks.  No longer the fresh smell of rain.

More conversation....  more assurances....  Sigh....

In 2012, things came to a head, much like an annoying pimple.  The neighbors down below told Rob & I at their yard sale that they were applying for tax exempt status and intended to run a rescue out of their home.  My first thought was, "ain't no way in hell."  By this time, even tho' the lower corrals were clean, the neighbors had taken to throwing the shit manure over the fences.  We have manure on the easements, manure on my property, manure... manure... manure...  I tried to help them out by removing a bit of it....  many wheelbarrows full...  didn't make a dent.  Way too much manure...

I really don't like to make trouble for others, but enough is enough is enough....  I can't go on, I can't go on no more now....  enough is enough is enough....

Oops....  sorry about that....

Phone calls were made looking for help...  Sigh....

Unbeknownst to me, some neighbors over on Log Cabin Ln were having the own issues with the lower corrals being in their front yards.  It seems, when they unload a trailer full of donkeys, those residents have no in & out capability.  The trailer blocks the road.  It is, after all, a one car lane that is a private road.  A road which is being used without permission.

Log Cabin Lane - Homes on Right, Donkeys on Left

This video shows the problem with regard to blocking the small lane.  The video belongs to the ELS and the "embed" code came from their public, FaceBook page.


Now, it's 2013.  Some of the manure has been removed (Thank God!) but there are still large quantities of it everywhere, including around an active propane tank.  The neighbors have applied for a zoning variance and we attended the hearing, voicing our opposition.  We are now waiting to see what happens.  Truly enough is enough...

The neighbors have gotten ugly with some of those who oppose them receiving very nasty phone calls in the middle of the night.

No one should have to live like this....