Understanding legal nuisance: the case of barking dogs

THE occasional barking of a dog, which is merely annoying or inconvenient, is not enough to establish a legal nuisance.

- ZELDA VENTER

The law does not expect silence; it expects reasonableness, and not every noise is actionable in law. This was part of a recent finding by the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS), which took a closer look at a noise disturbance complaint by a couple living in an upmarket Johannesburg sectional title complex.

They said they had to endure the insistent barking of two dogs belonging to a family in the same complex for more than a year. The couple said they now had enough, and the dogs must go.

The Bhana couple said they had put up with the barking for some time, but they eventually met with the Lazanakis couple (respondents) —the owners of the barking dogs — to try and find a solution.

Prior to the meeting, the Bhanas sent an audio clip to the dog owners as evidence of how the dogs were barking.