YEAR IN REVIEW: This article was originally published on July 24.
Thorold resident Cindy Innocenti has lived in the same house on St. David’s Street for the last 39 years. But after receiving anonymous letters threatening her dog, she feels unsafe and afraid — so much so that she is even considering moving.
“I'm that scared,” Innocenti tells ThoroldToday. "I don't know where this letter came from. We have so many dogs walking here and I don't know what they plan to do."
Innocenti’s dog is a three-year-old Beagle Walker Coonhound. Innocenti was initially hesitant to get the breed because they’re known to be barkers, but shortly after meeting Rueben, she fell in love.
Before she brought the puppy home, Innocenti went around to her neighbours to warn them things might get noisy for a while.
“I told them before I even got the dog: ‘I’m getting a Beagle Walker Coonhound,’” she says. “'I don't know what he's going to be like. I got the one that barks.'”
While Innocenti acknowledges that the dog can go through barking fits, she makes sure to not let him out after dark.
“I never let my dog out at night,” she says. “He barks at buses, dump trucks, bicycles and stuff. That all happens during the day, not at night. “
Outside of the barking, Rueben is a gentle pup, and he has made lots of friends in the neighbourhood — but unfortunately also an enemy.
Innocenti works in the hospitality industry, and two years ago she came home at 1 a.m. after working a wedding. When she took the dog out before bed, he was startled by a group of kids waiting for an Uber and he ended up having a barking fit.
The next night, after Innocenti came home from another late shift, a teenager passing by howled at Rueben, who in response howled back.
Soon thereafter the first anonymous note — which was mailed through the Canada Post — landed in Innocenti's mailbox.
“I’m writing this to tell you that I am getting very tired of listening to your f****** dog barking in the middle of the night,” reads the note.
The anonymous letter writer says they work in a hospital and they are “burnt out from working long shifts” so they need their sleep.
“It would be a shame if I have to stop the barking myself,” ends the note.
Since receiving the letter, Innocenti has made a concerted effort to minimize Rueben’s barking. She brought in a dog trainer and she has made sure to minimize his time outside.
“I go to bed at 11 o’clock,” she says. “He’s in bed with me and I don't let him out past dark.”
Innocenti assumed the problem was fixed but a week ago out of the blue — two years after the first letter — she received another threatening note.
“If you don’t get rid of your f****** dog within the next 3 weeks, it will no longer be with you!!” writes the anonymous resident. “You won’t know how and you won’t know when. It could be a week, 2 weeks or a month!! ... Get rid of your ‘PSYCHO F******* DOG’ once and for all, so there will be no trouble for ‘you’ and peace and quiet for us!!”
The note has really shaken Innocenti up and now she’s worried for the other dogs in the neighbourhood.
“I'm afraid they'll poison my dog but I'm also afraid they might poison the neighbours' dogs,” she says.
According to Innocenti, there are several other dogs in the neighbourhood — including a few Beagle Walker Coonhounds — that are also known to bark outside, so she doesn’t know if she is being targeted specifically.
“I don't know if they're planning on baiting something in the neighbourhood,” Innocenti says. “There’s so many dogs that walk by here every single night. So they're all subject to what's going on with me.”
Innocenti called the police but there is very little they can do.
“They said if anything happens to get a hold of them,” she says. “Which means that something could happen to my dog and then it's too late.”
When she a filed a police report, an officer came down and talked to Innocenti's neighbours and while they did say that Rueben is known to bark during the day, they confirmed he doesn’t do so at night.
“Nobody's ever said anything in the neighbourhood,” says Innocenti. “[The police officer] said ‘if you thought you knew who it was, I could go talk to them, but that could make things worse.’ So I don't know if it makes it worse or if it stops them in their tracks. It depends on the person, I guess.”
Without a suspect, Innocenti is at a dead end but being cooped up in the house is not working out well and she has started exploring the possibility of moving.
“I don't want to cause any more problems,” she says. “But now my dog's stuck in the house day and night. And I take him for a walk and bring him right back in the house and don't let him out.”
