Training Sections

Introduction

• 1. Why and How
• 2. Learner ObjectivesContent

• 3. I Am a New LHO, What Do I Do Now?
• 4. How do I Solve This Problem?
• 5. You Make the Call
• 6. How Do I Enforce the Law?Conclusion

• 7. Course Review and Evaluation

 

Complaint 1 - Noisy cow and other animal concerns

You receive a complaint about a cow, and it sounds like a legitimate cause for concern. You look at the available references and even look in the statutes. Several statutes can address most complaints. Landlord-tenant issues, dangerous buildings, polluting, malfunctioning sewage systems, automobile junkyards - these are very common, and as a result the Maine legislature created a law to address these issues.

But there is little or nothing that appears to directly deal with animal complaints. What do you do?

Resolving excessive noise problems often require either a municipal ordinance, unlikely in most Maine communities, or reaching an agreement between the parties to correct the problem.

Some statutes provide a place to start and guidance for less common complaints. One such law is T 17 M.R.S.A §2802, “Miscellaneous Nuisances.” This law does not provide a direct remedy, but the usefulness involves the Legislature created language that helps you make a case for action.

Even though you may have to go to court to seek a remedy, the court will defer to what the law says. In many cases this means the court will not have to decide whether or not the situation is legal because the law defines what is considered acceptable. Here is a section of the Miscellaneous Nuisances” law (emphasis has been added in bold):

“The erection, continuance or use of any building or place for the exercise of a trade, employment or manufacture that, by noxious exhalations, offensive smells or other annoyances, becomes injurious and dangerous to the health, comfort or property of individuals or of the public; causing or permitting abandoned wells or tin mining shafts to remain unfilled or uncovered to the injury or prejudice of others; causing or suffering any offal, filth or noisome substance to collect or to remain in any place to the prejudice of others; obstructing or impeding, without legal authority…”

 

 

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Additional Material

• 
• Miscellaneous nuisances
• Title 17 M.R.S.A. §2805
•    

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