Hi has anyone had any experience with their dogs on the farm been complained about? regarding the odd bark through the night and what happened to sort it out with a complaining neighbour ,what rights do we have to have our dogs on our property if the neighbour is going to keep complaining about been woken up, how did anyone sort it out and what did you do ? Tia
Dogs
- Thread starter goatgirl 1
- Start date
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
The point for me is that you weren't really compelled but rather capitulated! I very much doubt they could have compelled you in law to get rid of barking dogs. I am sure there will be plenty of case law. Barking dogs, cattle mooing, bleating sheep, etc., are part of the countryside -- unless it is a new nuisance that cropped up over night and even then..... But I am not a lawyer!
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
My case was not a dog barking
Noise pollution is very complicated.
I had the environmental health department of the local council on with me every few weeks for a while due to incessant reporting from a near neighbour (my own mother actually!) about everything and nothing. Once the people there twigged on that they were being used by her just to get at me, everything changed dramatically and they actually went out of their way to be helpful.
We had some really good chats about smells, noise, passing vehicles, what the law allowed them to do and what it certainly didn't. Essentially to bring about any sort of legal action or sanction requires months of carefully documented evidence and then that evidence has to meet certain stringent criteria before they'll even consider that course of action.
I think one of the enforcement officers summed it up pretty well when she said that nothing worked better in the most of cases than a wee bit of respect for others and common decency.
I had the environmental health department of the local council on with me every few weeks for a while due to incessant reporting from a near neighbour (my own mother actually!) about everything and nothing. Once the people there twigged on that they were being used by her just to get at me, everything changed dramatically and they actually went out of their way to be helpful.
We had some really good chats about smells, noise, passing vehicles, what the law allowed them to do and what it certainly didn't. Essentially to bring about any sort of legal action or sanction requires months of carefully documented evidence and then that evidence has to meet certain stringent criteria before they'll even consider that course of action.
I think one of the enforcement officers summed it up pretty well when she said that nothing worked better in the most of cases than a wee bit of respect for others and common decency.
Are you asking the legal position to confirm if you have to do something, or tips on how to stop the dog annoying the neighbour?
Depends how severe it is, but if your dog is stopping people sleeping, and you can stop it e.g. put dog kennel on opposite side of the house or a straw barn, that would seem a reasonable response.
Depends how severe it is, but if your dog is stopping people sleeping, and you can stop it e.g. put dog kennel on opposite side of the house or a straw barn, that would seem a reasonable response.
- Location
- Exeter, Devon
Try an anti bark collar on the dog at night if it’s developed a bad habit?
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
Can't do that, they're protected!
- Location
- JanDeGrootLand
Can't do that, they're protected!
GL42
The main licence relevant to farming is GL42: “the general licence to kill or take certain species of wild birds to prevent serious damage”. The government extended the period of the licences to two years, and they are valid from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023.
GL42 allows an authorised person (the owner or occupier of the land, or any person authorised by them) to kill the wild bird or damage or destroy nests or eggs for the purposes of preventing serious damage.
The general licences require that “reasonable endeavours must continue to be made to achieve the purpose in question using lawful methods” (ie. wherever possible non-lethal methods of control should be attempted). Defra advises users to keep a record of problems and the use of other lawful methods.
The general licence clearly defines the birds that can be controlled for certain purposes. Under GL42 these are:
Methods that can be used under this licence include destroying eggs and nests, shooting with a firearm or using a cage trap (for the latter you must comply with GL33 "Trapping wild birds: standard licence conditions").
- Direct attacks on livestock: carrion crow, jackdaw, magpie, rook
- Serious damage to livestock foodstuffs: carrion crow, feral pigeon, jackdaw, rook, wood pigeon
- Serious damage to crops, fruit and vegetables: Canada goose, carrion crow, Egyptian goose, feral pigeon, jackdaw, Indian house crow, monk parakeet, ring-necked parakeet, rook, wood pigeon.
In Wales, the equivalent licence is GL01. In Wales, the licence can also be used to prevent the spread of disease to livestock or livestock feeding stuffs.
Took this copy of NFU website. Is it current?
@Dry Rot , you are good at unraveling these types of documents. Your opinion on a way to implement would be appreciated.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
I would be prepared to bet that 'the authorities' don't consider the noise of rooks or crows to be causing "serious damage". Wasn't someone succefully prosecuted in England for shooting starlings in their back garden? The prosecution's argument was that the starlings were not causing damage (which generally means to food or agricultural crops, etc) and lethal means have to be 'in the last resort'. I was being a bit facetious as given any encouragement, the powers that be will pull out a law from somewhere and make it fit, regardless of the alleged offence, especially if it works!
HolzKopf
Member
- Location
- Kent&Snuffit
I think the reason why they bark is key. We've got dogs and they bark, but they don't bark at people they know i.e. friends, regular deliveries and the postie's van - but they do bark at strangers and perceived threats (perceived by them of course). If they bark at night, somethings about or somethings not right; fox, deer, stranger danger etc.
I don't think any dog should bark for the sake of barking unless there's a constant problem. On the other side of the village, there's a house with a yard full of dogs. 2 GSDs, and a few bitzas. The person that lives there feels vulnerable. The dogs are never walked, not trained, but well cared for and well fed, have shelter (a shed) and exercise themselves by running round in circles. The nearest neighbours (all who've moved in knowing that yard is there) complain from time to time to the parish council, local authority, EA etc and occasionally it's been said that 'tape' recorders etc have been set up - but the dogs still bark
I'm not saying that this is the same scenario as the OP - but still stand by that dogs don't bark incessantly for no reason
HK
I don't think any dog should bark for the sake of barking unless there's a constant problem. On the other side of the village, there's a house with a yard full of dogs. 2 GSDs, and a few bitzas. The person that lives there feels vulnerable. The dogs are never walked, not trained, but well cared for and well fed, have shelter (a shed) and exercise themselves by running round in circles. The nearest neighbours (all who've moved in knowing that yard is there) complain from time to time to the parish council, local authority, EA etc and occasionally it's been said that 'tape' recorders etc have been set up - but the dogs still bark
I'm not saying that this is the same scenario as the OP - but still stand by that dogs don't bark incessantly for no reason
HK