Maya McFadden Photo
Presence made known: Outside Paw Haven.
Peck Street residents say they have been living “a dog’s life” since Paw Haven doggy daycare opened in their neighborhood, subjecting them to constant barking throughout their day.
The affected neighbors said they have been dealing with regular elevated stress, headaches, and anxiety from the daily barking which they say some days can start as early as 6 a.m and continue until 9 p.m.
Paw Haven said it’s following rules that were democratically established through the zoning process, while working to make improvements based on neighbors’ concerns.
When Paw Haven opened this past August, “at first we thought one of our neighbors got a new dog and they just needed a few days to get situated,” said Peck Street resident Mary Mungham, 80 (pictured).
Weeks passed, and the barking started to come from more than one dog. It continued all day long. The residents became annoyed.
Peck Street resident Petisia Adger decided to get in her car on Sept. 24 and drive around the corner to find out where the noise was coming from. Adger followed the barking and found Paw Haven on State Street. She stopped inside in hopes of talking with one of the three co-founders, John McFadyen, Jackie McFadyen, or Kevin Rocco, about the “incessant barking” affecting her and other neighbors. Adger said she was told to leave her contact information with the front desk to be later contacted. She kept calling but never heard back.
Mungham, Adger’s mother, has been her tenant for the past ten years. Mungham said the barking wakes her up early and keeps her from taking naps during the day. “It’s nerve-racking. and I can’t afford to move,” she said. Mungham is also dealing with stress from health issues due to her age.
Evinaldia Ortiz’s backyard view of Paw Haven.
On Sept. 27, Adger said, she called the police at 7:14 a.m as the dogs were barking. Later that day John McFadyen reached out to Adger for the first time and the two scheduled a meeting in her backyard on Oct. 4 with her neighbors, Livable City Initiative, and Deputy Economic Development Director Steve Fontana.
At the meeting the group shared their stories with the city members and McFadyen. “There’s nowhere in our houses we can go to get away from it. It travels to every room, even the basement.” Agder said.
Adger (a retired assistant police chief) said she has been suffering from nightmares of a traumatic dog incident while young. “I thought I was over it. This is physical and psychological trauma we can’t get back,” she said.
At the meeting McFadyen told the residents they could contact him directly for future concerns, Velez said. When Velez called McFadyen days later to complain about the noise, McFadyen refused to communicate with her, she said. “He told me he was only communicating with Petisia, that’s it,” she said.
“It’s not their backyard so they don’t care.”
Contributed Photo
Texts exchanged between Petisia Adger and John McFadyen.
The group agreed a sound study should be conducted to measure the noise traveling into the residential area. Paw Haven founders hired an acoustic consultant with the help of the city to do the study. The site visit for the study was conducted on Oct. 20 for an analysis of community noise impact.
The study summary was completed by Nov. 2.(Click here to read it.) The study concluded that the measured noise levels from the facility exceed the local noise ordinance limits at the residential property line to the south. The site observation recommended that Paw Haven modify its eight-foot fence to include sound barrier material, as well as put sound barriers on the indoor ceiling to noise coming from the pet pens inside. It recommended the facility close its garage doors half way throughout the day.
Since receiving the recommendations from the sound study, the co-founders have been working with the city and an attorney to gather sound barrier material quotes. The facility also applied for a grant from the city to help cover the material cost and installation.
All of the recommended sound barrier material must be custom-made for the facility. During the search the co-founders had to deal with supply chain issues for the sound barrier material affected during the pandemic, Jackie McFayden said. As of January the custom sound barrier material has been ordered.
“We want to be a good neighbor,” she said. “We are New Haven residents looking to serve New Haven so community is huge for us.”
Before the study the facility would keep its two garage doors open for 12 hours a day. The doors are opened for dogs in the play yards to choose between playing inside or outside. Since the study, the garages remain open halfway for a total of three hours, said Assistant Manager Ron Mojico.
For an hour three times a day the dogs are let out to use the bathroom and exercise. When the dogs get loud, the staff has recently been herding them inside, said Mojico.
“The animals’ safety is number one. They need exercise and bathroom breaks,” said Jackie McFayden.
Paw Haven’s general manager had altered the pets’ outdoor schedules multiple times to lessen the number of hours the dogs are outside. The residents agreed that the facility has failed on a number of occasions to keep its proposed schedule for letting the dogs into the play yards.
Neighbors Ashley Velez, 25 and Ariel Cuevas, 30 joined Adger for the meeting to discuss solutions to the seven-day‑a week barking.
Paw Haven was approved for a variance by the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) in 2019 for the potential noise issue the business poses. The BZA staff approved the special exception with reason to believe that the business’s noise would be less intrusive than the noise from U‑Haul trucks, the railroad tracks, and Interstate 91 which already exist in the neighborhood. At the BZA the co-founders had a petition in support of the facility signed by more than 100 people and approvals from management teams in East Rock and Fair Haven. The variance granted allows the Paw Haven facility to be 222 feet from a residential zone, where 500 feet is currently required.
Some Peck Street residents are among the people who signed the petition more than a year ago in support of the facility, said co-founder Jackie McFadyen. After the BZA approval, residents were given an appeal period. “The BZA meeting was public and was covered in the media. Our grand opening was open to the neighborhood. We did everything necessary to inform them before actually opening,” McFayden said.
The group of Peck Street residents maintained they never received a required notice from the city of the BZA approved request’s appeal period.
Since August the neighbors have also dealt with flooded basements, wind damaged homes, and the effects of the Covid pandemic on their school and work schedules.
Velez purchased her Peck Street home two years ago. “This was supposed to be my forever home. I did my military service, got my associates, and then came here to settle down,” she said.
Velez’s partner Cuevas is a college student who said remote learning is disrupted on a daily due to the barking.
“We’re everyday working Americans here, but they don’t care because it’s Fair Haven,” said Velez. “Even with our windows and doors closed you can hear it.”
Adger, who manages a business from home, said she has struggled to participate in business-related Zoom meetings due to the daily barking. She has had to borrow people’s homes at times to gain a quiet place for work. She has even considered renting out a work space. “We’re in a pandemic. It’s not easy to just pop up at people’s houses,” she said.
Adger and Velez said their tenants have complained to them about the noise and at times consider leaving. “If this isn’t figured out, we can start losing our cash flow,” said Velez.
Velez said she avoids returning home after work as much as possible. Both Velez and Cuevas have found themselves spending more money to eat out and visit their families homes to get away from the noise.
“This wouldn’t happen in Morris Cove, Westville, or the suburbs. They didn’t think of the people here at all,” said Adger.
This issue has also affected Cuevas’ 13-year-old daughter, who visits throughout the week. At times her daughter has to play music to block out the noise of the barking while doing remote learning, Cuevas said. Despite an agreed-on visiting schedule with her daughter, Cuevas said, her daughter avoids visiting some days because of the barking.
Cuevas said when there is no barking she begins to get anxious for when it will start. “It takes hours to get refocused after it stops, and by that time it’s back again,” she said.
Velez has since dropped her undergraduate classes because of the stress and lack of wanting to be home, she said. She has also had to miss days of work recently due to a lack of sleep. “I’ve talked to realtors because I can’t handle it. This is a great street in New Haven, if I can’t be here I’m looking at places in Florida,” she said.
Adger said she lost 15 pounds recently because she eats less while anxious and depressed. After having her constant migraines under control for the past two years, she said, she has started to get them again because of the barking. “It’s beyond strain. I can’t imagine dealing with this for a full summer. We can’t even enjoy our backyards,” she said.
Another neighbor Evinaldia Ortiz (pictured), 75, said she gets headaches from the barking and loses sleep. “I’m here all day and can’t even focus on my TV,” she said. “They get paid for the dogs; they should know how to keep them quiet.”
Paw Haven staff have reported being harassed and fearful of the residents, who at time yell profanities from across the train tracks, Jackie McFayden said.
This past Thursday included the third visit from the police due to the residents’ complaints, she said.
Adger has kept a “bark journal” since the issue began in September. In her notes of a discussion the group of neighbors had, she wrote, “We are not comfortable in calling the police each and every time there is a violation, because the police should be spending their time policing the city.”
Adger said the city gave Paw Haven a citation for violation of CT General Statute 22 – 363 and the City of New Haven noise ordinance.
“We want to help but its just seems like nothing is enough,” Jackie McFayden said. “Animals should bring people together not be splitting this divide.”
Out of Paw Haven’s hundreds of customers since opening, more than 70 percent are New Haven residents, McFayden reported.
“We’re looking to be around long time. We want to have good relationships. And we’ve taken action since the beginning of things,” Jackie said.
The residents are currently seeking legal assistance to support their accusation that the company is violating CT General Statute 22 – 363.
If the noise can't be completely controlled (unlikely if the distance is really only 200 feet), then this facility should be shut down.
The city can reimburse Paw Haven for damages and relocation costs if it is found that they should never have given a zoning variance like this in the first place.