Mind you, the sound of an incessantly barking dog would drive me nuts. However the situation Pad describes is especially awful. If it were just a bored but otherwise decently-kept dog, i'd consider that ultrasonic device. In this instance, however ... no. I could not morally balance my peace&quiet against the certainty that I am removing that dog's only form of dealing with its situation. I'd surely be driving it insane by force-shushing it, and i might even get a paradoxical worsening of the noise. Difference is, I can choose to ignore the noise, wear earplugs etc. while that dog is in a no-choice scenario unless/until the authorities are finally interested. So my opinion is: don't punish the dog. cn