Noise Pollution

Last month we got a scathing letter from an anonymous group saying it represented our neighborhood's interests in preventing noise pollution and that we had a toxic problem in our backyard:  our dog, Miles.  It went on and on about how he is disturbing the peace and that his noises are "illegal" and that it is in our best interest to have him professionally trained to stop all forms of barking because they would hate to see this issue be taken to court where we may be forced to have Mile's vocal chords cut.  You would understand our shock in the contents of our letter if you knew our dog.  He does bark, that is when he sees someone in uniform or sometimes when other dogs walk by.  He is not barking all day long and if he does I just tap on the window and he'll stop.  The one annoying behavior to us is that he whines if he sees us outside while he's in his kennel but none of this would constitute the accusations and threats in the letter we received.  The best part is that an address or phone number of the person/persons is nowhere to be found on this letter, keeping us from even getting a chance to discuss with them the issues they are having with our dog.  So we've assumed the person must be one of our next door neighbors and to let them know we've heard their frustration loud and clear, if Miles ever barks or whines while Brent is at home, he yells outside in a very loud voice, "Miles!  Stop barking or they'll cut your vocal chords!"  We always get a little chuckle from this.
Last night Clare was pretty wound up and being a bit of a stinker when tucking her into bed and I ended up saying goodnight to her and going downstairs all the while hearing her pretending to cry in protest.  After a bit I heard footsteps, then a door open and then Sage yelling at the top of her voice, "Clare! You better be quiet or they're going to cut your vocal chords!"  I went to the stairs and asked "What did you just say?"  and she just burst out laughing.  I couldn't believe she had just said that and I started laughing so hard.  However, not a peep could be heard from Clare's room.