If dog owners are simply unaware that there is a problem, that means they have their TV turned up too loud all night, otherwise how is it that everyone else in the neighborhood can hear the dog barking except the owner?

Too bad about people like this that resort to hurting an animal rather than either talk to the owner or to animal control or the city about it. If the dog hasn't been trained it doesn't know any better.

Bottom line, it's the owner's fault, so deal with the owner not with the animal.

I am a big advocate of responsible pet ownership. I have two dogs and I do my very best to keep them quiet early in the morning and late in the evening/throughout the night. If they are outside during normal daylight hours, I allow them to bark to a certain extent- they are dogs and they will bark at passersby, birds, each other, etc. which is normal behavior for a dog. There is a line between that and barking incessantly - turning into a nuisance - and I believe most responsible pet owners can and do distinguish the difference.

However, some people believe that dogs should be silent at ALL times and you should not hear a peep out of them all day long. So "nuisance" barking is a relative term.

My point being, the owner was unaware, for whatever reason, that their dog was being a nuisance to their neighbor- and suddenly their dog has been stabbed- a cruel, viscous, selfish act and this neighbor is clearly in the wrong, 100%. Deal with him, not the animal or the owner. He clearly has issues with violence and needs to be dealt with before he does something far more serious.

Dogs have the ability to detect "bad" people. The dog probably barked EVERY time the neighbor was in sight. No surprise! The owner treated the dog with the "same respect" he has for others. Dogs are supposed to bark to let their owners know about danger. The dog was doing his job. Too bad we can't lock up people who insist they are more important than EVERYONE else.

The dog may have been "doing its job" by barking but the owner (oops, guardian) of the dog wasn't doing his job and shutting his dog up. Nobody should harm a dog but nobody should have to listen to an incessantly barking dog.

There is a lot of assuming in the comments that I have read about the owners of Sadie. I happen to know Saide and the owners. I have been around both dogs. They only bark when there is something going on and in the case of the man that slashed Sadie's nose, she does bark when he is in his yard behind them, because he has tormented her. Both dogs are kept in at night and you do not hear anything out of them. They do alert you if someone comes up to the door. They are both very gentle dogs and even for their size, believe they are lap dogs. You know what they say about ASSUMING. The authorities have been called several times because of the treatment that this guy has given to both of the dogs.

Don't Assume that you know the full story concerning these dogs and their owners. I know how these dogs are cared for because I am the GRANDMA to these dogs. I have been there during the day and they do not incessantly bark. They are well behaved dogs.

Our neighbor has a dog that is allowed out at night and barks constantly. We have talked with the neighbor numerous times, animal control, the police, etc. The dog has attacked me personnally and others who have walked by. The neighbor has a hundred excuses. I don't blame the dog, I blame the neighbor. I would never harm the dog - the neighbor abuses the dog enough by leaving it outside in the cold. Unfortunately, animal control does little to help.