What can I do about a nuisance dog in my neighbourhood?
If a dog barking is causing a nuisance, we can investigate to and help achieve a resolution.
Nuisance barking complaints are investigated by our Animal Management Officers (AMO) with your help.
While it is not an offence for dogs to bark, it is an offence for dogs to cause a nuisance.
Talk to your neighbour as early as possible, they may not know there is a problem and may be more than happy to make changes. You may be more comfortable addressing this via a letter.
Download our letter template and drop it off at your neighbour's house or in their letterbox. If this is unsuccessful, download a copy of the noise complaint diary and start keeping the seven-day noise diary.
Download a copy of the noise complaint diary and start keeping the seven-day noise diary. Our AMOs will use this as part of their investigation. Our AMOs use information from the dog owner, the resident/s being impacted by the noise, along with surrounding residents to make sure our investigations are balanced and fair.
You may need to keep more than one diary during our investigations. If you wish to make a complaint, you must be willing to give evidence in court to support your complaint if the complaint needs to go before a magistrate.
Our aim is to resolve the nuisance so that everyone can enjoy the peace and quiet of their residence as soon as possible. There may be times when a matter can’t be resolved quickly and needs to go before a magistrate. The person/s being upset by the dog will need to give evidence and the dog owner could be ordered to remove the dog, receive a punitive penalty, or both.