What can someone annoyed by a noisy dog do?
If the barking or howling occurs to an unreasonable extent, there are a number of things you can do. • Keep a precise record of the dates, times and durations of the noise. If there is more than one dog that barks in the neighbourhood, make sure that you have the right one. This is a basic point, but mistakes have happened. • After jotting down this information for a few days. Go and see the dog owner, preferably when the dog is barking or a short time afterwards. The owner may not realise the dog has been causing too much annoyance, so be polite. If you go round to your neighbour in an aggressive manner, it may provoke a shouting match and is unlikely to lead to a solution. • If you do not wish to meet your neighbour, send them a polite letter explaining the problem (with a copy of your records) and suggest it would be helpful to have a face to face meeting to discuss the matter. Don’t forget to put your name and address on the letter (an anonymous letter is likely to be ignored). • K
