Nowadays many neighbours in communities have a dog. Most of them cause no problems to the rest of the owners but, unfortunately dogs could be a nightmare for the neighbours.

          A flat is not the perfect place for some dogs, so they get nervous and start to bark causing nuisance in the community.

          Some other dogs miss the owners and start to cry as soon as the owner leave the house.

          All these situations get even worse at night when any sound is easier to be heard and every noise seems to be at a higher volume.

          We have to reconcile the right of every owner to have a pet and the right of the rest of the owner that just want to be relax in their homes.

          Most of Town Hall by-laws regulate the problems with dogs, regarding noise, security and Hygienic measure conditions to be complied by the owners.

          In fact the easier and quicker way to resolve a problem of a Dog that it is barking at night is to call the local police and, in some cases, the police go to the house and resolve the problem.

          When the police cannot provide the neighbours with any solution, the community can start the procedure to take legal actions against the owner or tenant who owns the dog but this pathway will take some time and quite probably the problem will be resolved before the community can get a proper solution from the Court. Anyway, sometimes, this is the best possibility we can take.

Jose Luis Navarro.

Intercala´s solicitor and property administrator