No good deed goes unpunished

OK before we get to the actual topic, I need to explain where I live. It's a rural area on the edge of a small town. Lots are at least an acre and wooded. I have lived here for 20 years and have been involved in dog rescue (and owned multiple dogs) for 5. Within the last 2 years I have acquired new neighbors on both sides. I'll freely admit I am not an especially social person and I did not make any attempt to get to know them. They're both younger families with younger kids, and even if I were a get-together-for-coffee-with-the-neighbors type, I can't imagine what we would have in common.

I'll also say for as many dogs as I have, I do try to be considerate. I do not leave my dogs outside when we're not here. I do bring any barking dogs into the house as soon as I notice they're barking. Still, dogs bark. That's just the fact of the matter. They bark outside if they see something they believe I need to know about. They bark inside when we come home or if someone comes to the door. Anyone who does rescue knows what that is like. (On the phone we all hang up when we get to the door. "I'm home now, gotta go, dogs will be barking in a minute.")

So this evening, one of my neighbors came over to inform me he has had it with my dogs. He has called the cops several times so they can hear them barking. According to him, the neighbors on the other side have had it too. With a wave of a hand, he implied perhaps the whole road has had it, maybe the whole county, who knows. He paid a lot of money for his house. Apparently at this time there is nothing they can do, so he has a friend on council and they are going to put through a new noise ordinance that addresses barking dogs. I have no idea why he felt the need to give me this heads up, although I suspect it was so I would know why it came about and who was behind it.

So basically, I'm fucked. This is a small town and I am nobody so I am going to get nowhere trying to fight this. If I somehow succeed in one aspect, they will come after me from another. It's not like dog rescue is a valued venture anyhow. If it were, that would suggest people value dogs, and judging by how many dogs we need to save, that's obviously not the case, right? I can look at it from every angle, and it's pretty clear my only options are going to be getting rid of my dogs or moving. Even if I cut back on the dogs I have here (and that would necessitate putting several of them to sleep because they are not adoptable) the dogs I own bark. They're dogs. I don't know how to keep dogs from barking entirely. The bottom line is this is what I do. I rescue dogs. Perhaps it is hell to live next to me. I can think of many many other situations that will be just as bad if not worse. And I suspect this man will be aggravated at any one of those as well. (And I'm spiteful enough to hope whoever does end up living here next is every bit as annoying as I am now.) That doesn't change what we're dealing with now.

I really don't mind moving. I was planning to before the real estate market took a dive. Still right now I am in no way at all able to or prepared to, and the logistics of how that will occur are beyond me at this time. I guess all I can do now is wait and see what happens next. I dunno how much time I'll have before the ax falls, or how drastically they'll push this. I do know that this is my life now and a few disgruntled neighbors will not change that. We'll find a way through this and it will work out for the better in the end.