£3,000 cost of barking dog

Chris Osuh

June 02, 2007

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Rachel Lea and her Maremma sheepdog Angel

A WOMAN says she is horrified at having to pay nearly £3,000 because her pedigree dog wouldn't stop barking.

Rachel Lea, of Fog Lane, Didsbury, pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates' Court to four counts of breaching a noise abatement notice. The mother-of-three broke down in court when she was told she would have to fork out £1,080 in fines and £1,702 in costs.

Environmental Health officers received complaints about `loud and frequent' barking which drowned out a neighbour's television and gave them sleepless nights. In June 2005, Ms Lea was served with a noise abatement notice and when the council continued to receive complaints, she was ordered to go to court. Ms Lea told the M.E.N: "I was absolutely horrified by the fines and costs - I simply can't afford them. I only pleaded guilty because I couldn't afford to fight it. I bought Angel as a puppy five years ago after a burglar smashed his way in and stole my ex-husband's Audi. Since then, she has protected us from two possible break-ins."

Ms Lea, a medical sales representative, said: "There is another dog nearby that barks and I think the neighbours may have confused that dog's barks with mine." Ms Lea has put her £460,000 house on the market for reasons unconnected to the dog squabble. She hoped the `For Sale' sign would have stopped neighbours complaining.

Next-door neighbour Alison Pardoe said: "The dog barks outside and we hear it barking when we're inside. And it spends a lot of time standing up with its paws in the window barking at people walking by."

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ace, manchester (02/06/2007 at 11:53)

If your dog barks and you dont do anything about it its your own fault.You have to think about your community and neigbours

john blue, levenshulme (02/06/2007 at 13:25)

sell the house and the dog, and buy a hamster

janetj235, chorlton (02/06/2007 at 17:26)

A message for Rachel, i had a dog that barked so i used a waterpistel when my dog barked i must say it worked

transit, manchester england (02/06/2007 at 17:39)

hurray for the environment!
about time these dogs were shut up.

Pandora (02/06/2007 at 18:12)

Bark, well that's what dogs do. But this fine is a little outrageous, drunk drivers get away paying less.
Still I suppose a yapping dog poses a much more serious threat to a person than a drunkard behind the wheel of 2 tons of speeding steel. Britain. What a joke your judicial system and your laws are.

wkdboy1, Hyde (02/06/2007 at 18:20)

I have a dog and she has been brought up not to bark, it is up to the owner to respect the neighbours and the community. If not then they should be punished, only fair, your neighbours have suffered, so why not you.

Joe (03/06/2007 at 01:42)

Well tough luck love. Why should everyone else have to live with the noise of your hound drowning out their lives? You must have had time to deal with the complaints but seems you didn't bother.If you can afford to live in Didsbury , you can afford to pay the costs etc.

shelby, worsley (03/06/2007 at 06:30)

As a dog owner this is a difficult one. Dogs quite naturally bark, it is after all its main way of communication with adults however like children dogs need to learn what behaviour is and is not acceptable. Maybe the dog needs its boundaries reset. Some dogs cannot stop barking and this is a behavioural issue. This story does not say whether the owner is at home with the dog all day.......it could be the dog is bored! The owner has to accept responsibility.

Sick of being blue, Tameside (03/06/2007 at 08:10)

You got what you deserved you had been warned and you have done nothing about it. So just pay the fine and keep the peace.

Nell Bradley, Manchester (03/06/2007 at 18:31)

If you read the article the lady in question says she pleaded guilty because she couldn't afford to defend the case. Such is the ludicrous law system in this country that people who may be innocent of accusations actually can't afford to defend their good name and it is cheaper in the long run to plead guilty. Because this fact seems to have been overlooked by some of the readers commenting I would say there is a possibility that the dog is not such a nuisance and that the fine is totally out of proportion to the "offence". Given that drunk drivers and other convicted criminals who may have caused serious harm to innocent people often walk away with suspended sentences and paltry fines this case shows a triumph of over zealous bureaucracy over justice. What a ridiculous place Manchester is to live

Leo B (04/06/2007 at 08:31)

She pleaded guilty because she's skint? - with a house on the market for £460k. Don't make me laugh!

Mr Manchester (04/06/2007 at 13:31)

I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree, Mrs Lea. To the doghouse with you.

Jo (05/06/2007 at 14:31)

I absolutely adore dogs of all kinds and grew up with dogs. However, we made an effort to keep them as quiet as possible. They barked briefly when someone came to the door, but we never let them bark at length in the garden and we never left them alone in the house for long periods. They responded to the command 'Quiet' most of the time when they were in the garden and if they didn't, we brought them into the house where they had nothing to bark at. Apart from being considerate and courteous to our neighbours, we didn't want to listen to incessant barking either! And our dogs never barked at night - we actually moved their bed from a room with patio doors to one where they couldn't see into the garden, so that they couldn't see foxes, hedgehogs etc that they might have barked at.

Of course all dogs bark now and again, but you don't get a noise abatement order slapped on you for a dog barking now and again for a short time during the day. If dogs are barking incessantly or regularly for long periods of time, of course it's a nuisance to others and the dog owner has to held responsible.

Rachel Lea, Didsbury (06/06/2007 at 00:30)

The dog is no more a nuisance than my next door neighbour (quoted) who has her TV on rather loud as she is now quite elderly.

I chose not to defend the case not as an admission of guilt but in an effort to avoid the enormous costs of doing so. My solicitor very kindly acted for me for no payment as he was so shocked that the case would even merit a court hearing.

As I mentioned before the cost of defending the charge was too high to contemplate. I am a single mother working to support my family. Yes I live in Didsbury but as my divorce is forcing the sale of the house I certainly won't be able to afford to do so for much longer. (Thanks for your kind comments Joe et al!)
Has justice been done? It depends what you choose to believe.

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