Barbara Hartwell
PO Box 22
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
XXX-XXX-XXXX (landline, no texting)
FORMAL COMPLAINT AGAINST DOG OWNER TRACY KRAWITT
To Dog Control:
I spoke to XXX at the Town Clerk's office and I am sending this message to be forwarded to you.
Please accept this as a formal complaint against one Tracy Krawitt, a tenant at XXXX Rhinebeck, NY. Krawitt is the owner of a large, aggressive dog who runs wild over the property and adjacent road, because Krawitt is violating the leash laws.
I am also a tenant at XXXX (since January, 2014). Krawitt's many civil and criminal violations have been a source of extreme distress to me over the period of time since 2019. I am aware that some of her violations are not under the purview of Dog Control, but I am adding the information to provide context about Krawitt's total disregard for the law (criminal and civil), for following regulations, and her total disrespect for the privacy, boundaries and fundamental rights of others, including her neighbors, tenants on the property owned by a common landlord.
I have made numerous complaints to Dog Control for the past few years. At first, my complaint was that the dog was left alone in the house for hours, day and night, and was hanging out an open window, howling and barking, disturbing the peace and preventing me from sleeping, and/or having the quiet enjoyment of my rental property, where I also work out of my home.
One Dog Control officer (XXXX, now deceased I was sadly informed, may he rest in peace) finally managed to stop Krawitt from neglecting her responsibility to control the dog, and forced her to stop her violations of causing disturbances and noise, only because I made repeated complaints.
But there is another issue. Tracy Krawitt allows the dog to run free, unleashed, thus violating the leash law. Numerous times, when driving on XXXX Rd. I have been forced to slam on the brakes when the dog ran directly in front of my car, with Krawitt “walking” the dog with no leash. This is a safety hazard, for drivers, other animals and pedestrians and also for her dog, who is out of control on a public road.
The dog also runs loose on the property, and repeatedly has ended up on my property (a private yard with the cottage I rent, for my exclusive use), on which Krawitt is prohibited from trespassing. She has been notified that this is an offense which will not be tolerated, but just disregards it and this does not stop her. Every time the dog runs into my yard, she comes trespassing to get him, grabbing him roughly by the collar and dragging him back to her house across the road. This irresponsible behavior constitutes neglect and mistreatment of an innocent animal, which clearly does not concern her.
When I called Dog Control about this leash law violation, it was basically ignored, and I was told I must produce evidence in the form of photographs. I told the other officer that I do not have the equipment to document the offenses, nor should I be required to do so. The burden should not be on me. Krawitt is the offender and I am the reporting party. When Dog Control did not take action to stop Krawitt's offenses, I gave up calling.
This has been going on for years and is outrageous, to say the least.
The latest offense (of many, many others) was on November 2, 2025.
Here is an excerpt, documented from my website, describing the event:
PUBLIC NOTICE & UPDATES- Latest Offenses of Criminal Perp Tracy Krawitt, the Neighbor from Hell: Endangering Animals, Pedestrians & Drivers, Violating Leash Laws
https://barbarahartwellvscia.blogspot.com/2025/11/public-notice-updates-latest-offenses.html
There
have been multiple incidents of Krawitt's violation of the leash law
since the last update. She lets the dog run wild, unleashed, creating
a safety risk for other tenants and animals, and for the dog itself.
Krawitt's dog has repeatedly run into my yard, and Krawitt is running
and trespassing into my yard (which she has no right to do, as I am
paying for the exclusive property rental, house and yard.)
This morning there was such an incident. At 8AM I heard loud barking and howling. I looked out the window and there was the large dog, right outside the door of my house. My hired worker was outside, who was shocked to see the dog aggressively running toward him. Still inside my house, I called out the door to the dog, Get the hell out of here! Krawitt then came running, trespassing into my yard to grab the unleashed dog (as she has done many times before), shouting and cursing at me, hissing like a snake, "Relax!" (how dare she, she is the ONLY wrongdoer!) Then, when I repeated that she Get the hell out of my yard, she called me a "psycho". She was probably reading my reports, where she was described exactly that way, with good reason.
The unleashed dog has run countless times in front of my car, both on the road and in my yard. I have had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting it.
These incidents are a regular occurrence. I have called Dog Control and since they do nothing, I have not bothered to call on every occasion. I called today and got a voicemail.
Nobody stops her and she is a criminal menace in the neighborhood. I will keep calling Dog Control.
It needs to be remembered that in the first incident of her aggression against me, Krawitt called the police and lied to them, making a false police report (a crime), falsely claiming that I had "threatened to kill" her. Outrageous! She is a vile liar and the ONLY offender, ever.
My good name has been repeatedly slandered with outrageous lies from this criminal reprobate, including to the police, the landlord and other tenants.
Tracy Krawitt is in fact the real psycho. I have never done anything but defend myself against her offenses and extreme aggression.
These incidents with the unleashed dog constitute harassment, trespassing, invasions of privacy, public slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress. I will not stand for it. I will keep calling authorities until she is stopped in her tracks. She is indeed the Neighbor from Hell.
END EXCERPT
Dog Control is the authority on this issue, but as stated, in the past has failed to issue directives to stop this offender, Tracy Krawitt, from her constant violations. Or, she has simply disregarded directives and no further action was taken to stop her.
These egregious offenses cannot be allowed to continue. I have no contact whatsoever with Krawitt, and never will, but only report her offenses to proper authorities.
Please take immediate action to stop this offender and provide relief to me, the victim, the complainant and reporting party.
Peace on this property needs to be restored by legal means, which Dog Control has the authority to administer.
Thank you for your consideration.
Barbara Hartwell

