Fire Captain and School Official in Dog Dispute : Moorpark: Educator was arrested after her neighbor’s complaint about noise ended up in court. The animal may have to be debarked.

A miniature dachshund named Ginger has stirred up trouble between a Ventura County Fire Department captain and the Moorpark school board president, who are neighbors in the affluent Peach Hill area of the city.

The dispute has resulted in restraining orders against both parties and led last week to the arrest of school board President Cynthia Hubbard, who could face six months in jail and a $500 fine. Her dog, Ginger, could have her vocal cords cut.

The tiny dog has been at the heart of a seven-month dispute between the neighbors, whose houses are only about two feet apart. Ventura County Superior Court Judge Joe Hadden issued the neighbors a mutual restraining order Oct. 1, barring them from coming within five yards of one another’s property.

Capt. Richard Dobbin, a 20-year veteran with the Fire Department, complains he can’t sleep during the day. And his wife, a graduate student in psychology, says she can’t study.

Hubbard’s rhinestone-collared canine barks too much, they say.

“We’re not animal haters, but this one seems to be a problem because it makes so much noise,” Dobbin said. “It barks its head off for hours and hours on end.”

But Hubbard said Ginger, eight pounds and barely two feet long, couldn’t possibly be the nuisance the Dobbins say she’s been. After Hubbard rented a house in the Peach Hill neighborhood in June, Ginger suffered from bronchitis and then pneumonia and could barely make any noise, she said.

And dachshunds are “not yappy dogs,” Hubbard said.

Last week Ginger darted into the Dobbins’ yard, straight toward Elizabeth Dobbin, and Hubbard sent a friend next door to get her, Hubbard said.

The two women began pulling at the dog, Hubbard said, and “I could just picture them damaging her.”

Hubbard said she crossed into the Dobbins’ yard to rescue Ginger. “I wasn’t . . . going over there to harm Mrs. Dobbin,” she said.

But Richard Dobbin said Hubbard came to assault his wife. Both Dobbin and Hubbard called police, and Hubbard was arrested on suspicion of violating the restraining order. She was released on her own recognizance until her arraignment April 24 in Simi Valley Municipal Court.

The police report says Elizabeth Dobbin, 41, was scratched on her left forearm.

The district attorney’s office has not received the complaint and has not decided whether to file charges, Deputy Dist. Atty. Ed Brodie said.

The dispute began in September when Hubbard said she found a note in her mailbox from the Dobbins complaining about Ginger’s barking. She said she felt the Dobbins were mistaken and went with her housemate to their home to discuss it.

Hubbard says Dobbin swore at her and ordered her off his property. But Dobbin says the 30-year-old kindergarten teacher threatened him, and later he and his wife filed for a restraining order.

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies have been called into the dispute several times, Detective Brent Kerr said.

Hubbard and the Dobbins will discuss the dog’s barking before a hearing officer with the county Department of Animal Regulation on Tuesday. Hubbard could be asked to bind Ginger in an electronic collar to zap the dog whenever she barks or to have the dachshund’s vocal cords cut, said Kathy Jenks, department director.

Hubbard, a bilingual teacher in the San Fernando Valley and member of the Moorpark Board of Education for four years, said she has tried to make sure Ginger does not bother the neighbors.

She lined her living room window with aluminum foil so the dog won’t be alarmed by people or animals outside, and she plays the stereo during the day to keep the dog company, she said. But she plans to continue renting the house.

“I’ve never been one to back down from a situation,” she said. “I think that’s what makes me a strong board member. In the face of adversity I’ve managed to hold myself up.”

But Dobbin says the only solution is separation. “She’s going to have to move away,” he said. “Tomorrow’s not soon enough.”