Barking dogs

Fran76

Hope someone can help me out on this,
I live on a small not so quite housing estate. Neighbors from hell moved in over 5 years ago had one dog barking all day, then they went and got another dog made the situation a lot worse 6am barking on an off all day!
Now to make matters worse they went an built a purpose built dog grooming parlour no planning permission so when other animals are dropped off their own dogs bark constantly.
I have a teenager with special needs and this adds to his frustration.
I have wrote in the past to them about the excessive barking and got no where! Any advise please! I hope this is in the right area for posting!

JustAThought

My sympathies - there is a solution : ) It will cost you less than e40 to do it right.

For noisy dogs you can take the neighbours to the district court where you will not need a solicitor for a noise case - all noise complaints are dealt with there now : very routine & very matter of fact - no solicitors required.

To take the case you have to show that you have spoken to the neighbours reasonably & let the people know that the noise is disrupting you ( & your son) & asking them to resolve it, and to show (time & details) that you have given them the opportunity to resolve the matter . You then need if no improvement to have followed up on your complaint again to them . If others will back you up add their names to your letter this is better. You will need the times & dates of when you did this & the persons response and an indication of what happened next ( in terms of noise (improvement/no chamge) before you can go to court. Times & length of dog barking & how you know it's their dog/digs in their house etc

Most important that you have A name for a/the person at the house as you cannot take a case otherwise. You can then add unnamed other residents /visitors/customers and other unnamed people to your letter too .

I would suggest that after complaining verbally & getting no positive improvement that you register a letter (e6) and wait and monitor the situation for perhaps a week or two before writing another ( also Registered ) letter stating the times & disruption since the last letter & that there has been no improvement & ask them nicely again to take serious measures to stop the noise which is ruining your enjoyment of your home and causing nuisance & upsetting your family etc otherwise you will have no option but to take a noise complaint to the district court under Section x of x legislation. .

You then go to the district court, get one of the stack of forms their receptionist has for dog noise complaints, fill it out with copies of your letters & dates of verbal complaints & proof of posting , pay your e22 and they will set a date to hear the petition/case - NO solicitor needed, and the judge will then orden them to remove the dog(s), stop the illegal business/people coming with dogs to their house etc.

The citizens advise now have a new booklet about noise & antisocial behaviour & this is mentioned in it- although ironically the Dog Warden leaflet is better as it gives you clear instructions of what the name of the legislation is - you used to have to include the sentence in your letter to the problem people for it to be valid to be able to take it to court ' under x section of the 19xx environment act ' - the dog warden leaflet will give you this sentence clearly.

It would also be no harm to take a few oucs of visiting cars/dogs to show volume & an indication of how many dogs per day you now notice visiting the house & how disruptive they are. A tenant/owner is responsible for their visitors noise even if there is no business & it is just a social meeting place for dog friends who enjoy cutting their dogs hair together. You might get lucky and gave a screengrab of an online advert or quote for grooming prices or leaflet that you could include??!

Either way you have lodes to go on. If your neighbours would sign a letter too it would look good and remember to keep a log of their dog, when it starts barking, what might trigger it if it is obvious (planes flying overhead, cargoing by, wind, cat walking by, people in nearby gardens, triggered daily at 05am etc etc)
You need to be able to say you are positive it is their dog - can you see it barking in the back garden from your house - pics- does it go into the house from the street barking & continue for another hour etc.

It would be no harm to make a phonecall to the dog warden ( i'd do this after you speak to them for obvious reasons!) and follow up on this - and put this in your letter too. The dog warden can do nothing but it helps that you have rung them. The warden will call out & check he is licensed/chipped and make him buy one or give him a fine otherwise which will annoy them & add to your case.

Google citizens advice or dogwarden dublin /fingal for that Act . Its terrible how utterly insufferable people can be.

Fran76

Oh thank you so much for this valuable information, I need to get this sorted as it's a morning ritual at this stage. My neighbors work 6.30am till 3/4pm an they are not around to hear this noise. I have several recordings of dogs barking audio only, and photos from their Facebook page of dogs being groomed. Registered letter to start with, do you know if I can mention the audio recordings in this letter! Also do I have to put my name to it? I will if need be!
Thanks again!

JustAThought

If you are serious about it you just unfortunately have to bite the bullet - and yes they will know its you and you will have to put your name to it. You could send an anomynous (?!) letter but this will not count in court and once you start knocking on doors & registering letters to them they will know/guess that was from you. To get it fixed you will have to stand up to them - even if only knocking once & being told to f off and then standing up to them from behind a letter : ) - much easier thou some people generally respond much better to a personal request than a letter which is why they recommend you try that first.

If your neighbours work all day does the dog bark at night? If not why not - not ket into garden, owner walks it & lets it into the house etc - include this in your letter - it might provide the solution eg write I note your dog rarely barks from 4pm-midnight when it is inside with you - perhaps you coukd organise a minder during the day/ etc.

You will have to demonstrate to a judge that it is their dog barking - a recording is great but did you see their dog barking when you recorded it or how do you know its their dog etc.

Citizens advice may help you more : best of luck. Unless you act you be stuck with it for another 8 months/years.