The woman, who wished to be named only as Jayne, told Yorkshire Live how her neighbour’s dog would bark “uncontrollably” when she entered her kitchen or garden. The 39-year-old from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, claims the dog would hear her walking to her own kitchen and bark out. She said her options were to either get confrontational with her neighbours or deal with the bark.
Jayne claims she put up with the intimidating bark for one year until her neighbours moved out.
She said: “My old neighbours just left their dog in the back garden and it barked constantly and they did nothing about it. I couldn’t go out in my garden because of it.
“It’s like they were deaf and would leave the back door open go out and leave the dog there, I tried to be friendly so it would get used to me.
“If it was a nice day after work I couldn’t even sit in my garden or have friends round and have a BBQ because the dogs were barking that much. They made me stay out more than I wanted.
“Luckily they moved from me so I can have now barbecues.”
Jayne claims she didn’t dare speak to them because she didn’t know them well enough. She said: “You don’t know how they will react, it’s easier to cope with the dog than upset a human being, in this day and age you just don’t know at all how they will react.”
Dog owners whose pet cause a serious disturbance to neighbours with continuous barking could face fines of up to £1,000, according to the Government’s guidance on noise nuisance.
Councils are obliged to investigate claims regarding noise. If a report is made to the council about a dog, the owner is given a week to try and aid the problem. Failure to do so means the owner could be handed a Fixed Penalty Notice of up to £110.
Failure to pay can lead to prosecution, with a maximum fine of up to £1,000 for dwellings and an unlimited amount for licensed premises.
Jayne believes its ‘good’ that dog owners could face a fine. She said: “Owners shouldn’t let their dogs bark uncontrollably.
“People get a dog and just leave it and I believe they should be fined. My new neighbours have three dogs and I don’t hear a peep out of them.
“Yes dogs bark, but not for hours on end. Its a minority of people but they are the ones that spoil it for everyone else.”
