Noise and smell nuisance
In general, people are allowed to keep animals, as long as they
do not cause a nuisance or a health hazard to other people and
premises around them. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990,
dog owners can be prosecuted if their pets are found to be causing
a noise or smell nuisance.
If you live in a housing association property, you are bound by a
contract of tenancy (part of which is a tenancy agreement), which
prevents you from causing nuisance or health hazards by keeping
animals.
Noise nuisance
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, constant dog barking
can be classed as noise nuisance. If the amount of barking
prevents those who live nearby from enjoying or undertaking
normal living in their own property then it can be classed as a
nuisance. Unfortunately, dog noise is not like loud music or
revving car engines, it cannot just be turned off.
Dogs will bark when something or someone invades their space,
but this becomes a problem when barking continues or when a dog
barks for no reason.
There is a set procedure which the Council must follow when
investigating a complaint such as this. When you contact us to
report a complaint of dog noise, we will send you out
some monitoring sheets to complete so that we can establish
the best time to monitor the noise and gather extra
evidence.
We work closely with Environmental Health to tackle this problem
and also with the dog and owner to prevent or reduce the barking to
an acceptable level.
Reporting noise nuisance
If you would like to report an incident of noise nuisance, please
contact the Environmental Warden team using any of the methods to
the left of this page.
Smell nuisance
Smell caused by poor cleaning schedules can also prevent neighbours
from enjoying their property. If your property is found to
be causing a smell nuisance you can be prosecuted under The
Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Failing to clean up after your dog has fouled in an enclosed
area can lead to an unpleasant build up which causes flies and
smell. This can be easily remedied by routinely removing faeces and
disinfecting the area. Dog dirt can be easily disposed of.
Simply bag it, and place in your domestic bin on a daily basis.
Reporting smell nuisance
If you would like to report an incident of smell nuisance, please
contact the Environmental Warden team using any of the methods to
the left of this page.