Re: Am i unreasonable---or are they ?

You don't know for certain who it was Mariana so if you approached them I would expect them to deny any knowledge of the letter.
It is only a letter and at present that is all it is.
I would keep a diary of when you go out. Then if you get any more correspondence you can check, as I am certain that your dogs wouldn't be barking for that length of time at that hour if you were indoors.
Do they normally bark as alleged?
If you were indoors why wouldn't you have heard them? and why would they have reason to bark?
I hope that you denied the allegation when you spoke to the Environmental Health Officer.

Re: Am i unreasonable---or are they ?

I can understand the frustration of dogs barking, especially at night
They probably felt they couldn't approach you because they had not done so leading up to this
If this event was a one off - its harsh of them to report, if not - they had no choice

Re: Am i unreasonable---or are they ?

Of course it does, it's called 'seperation anxiety' anyone who has a dog should know about this and should make arrangements to minimise it.

I don't know why but dogs (all dogs) actualy LIKE humans and miss them terribly when they are not close by.

It also hardly needs to be stated that when the human leaves the room the poor dog has NO WAY of knowing if they will be gone for 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, or 5 years.

It furthermore must be obvious that some people should NEVER be allowed anywhere near a dog, but of course humans can not have their stupid 'rights' curtailed can they

Re: Am i unreasonable---or are they ?

Mariana your fair weather friends sound like a pair of AHS
However until you actually know it them best say nothing.
If you go out leave your dogs with a couple of big bones that you can get from the pet shop they will keep them occupied and quiet .
Make sure too they have plenty of exercise .
Tire the little beggars out!

Re: Am i unreasonable---or are they ?

mariana nothing worse than dogs barking late at nite ... how come you could not hear your dogs if u say u was in ...and asleep -but ur neigbors could ? did u ask the neighbor nxt door to you first ...all i can say is they must have very good hearing ....

Re: Am i unreasonable---or are they ?

There are no rights and wrongs in this situation, people just react to situations that are not of their own making.
It is up to us all to act in a responsible manner with our near neighbours especially where pet dogs and cats are concerned.

Re: Am i unreasonable---or are they ?

Hi

Barking dogs, the bane of Environmental Health.

Make sure that they are silent between 11pm and 7am, different rules apply then.

Your neighbours will have been sent diary sheets to record all occasions when your dog barks, good advice for you to keep the same.

If your neighbours diary show that a problem exists, then the next stage will be the introduction of a DAT machine in their house, this will record the actual source of the sound, ie dogs barking and the actual noise levels.

If that evidence shows that a Statutory Nuisance exists, you will be served with a Statutory Notice, you may have a visit from a noise officer before then.

Once the Notice is served, you will have a minimum of 28 days to stop your dogs barking, after that it is Magistrates Court.

The Council are under a Statutory Duty to investigate and if a Nuisance is found, they are under a duty to serve the legal notice.

They will do it, if not, the complainant is entitled to damages from the Council, something the Council will seek to avoid as the damages and legal costs are substantial.

Re: Am i unreasonable---or are they ?

Unless the dogs were shut outside barking?

Also, was this a one-off occurence, or does it happen frequently?

Re: Am i unreasonable---or are they ?

Were you with the dogs at the time? Awful long time to leave them barking.

Re: Am i unreasonable---or are they ?

Were the dogs out mariana?If you went to bed early I would have thought you would have bedded them down for the night,so why should they be barking ?