The Town of Victoria Park s Rangers use the following legislation to address dog nuisance barking complaints:

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1 Dealing with Barking Dog Issues Legally Nuisance behaviour in dogs can be many things, though it usually involves dogs barking. Nuisances can also include jumping at a person or any behaviour which adversely affects another person. The Town of Victoria Park s Rangers use the following legislation to address dog nuisance barking complaints: Western Australia Dog Act 1976 Division 4 Control of nuisance Section 38 - Nuisance 1. A dog shall not be a nuisance either of itself or together with other dogs whether or not in the same Ownership. 1.a Where it is shown that a dog is a nuisance in contravention of sub-section (1) the Occupier of the premises where the dog is ordinarily kept or ordinarily permitted to live commits an offence against that sub-section unless he proves that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the contravention. Penalty: Where a dog is a dangerous dog, $4,000 and a daily penalty of $400; otherwise $2,000 and a daily penalty of $ A dog shall be taken to be a nuisance for the purpose of this section if: 2.a it is injurious or dangerous to the health of any person 2.b it creates noise, by barking or otherwise, which persistently occurs or continues to a degree or extent not normally habitual in dogs, and has a disturbing effect on the state of reasonable physical, mental or social well-being of a person; or 2.c it is shown to be allowed to behave consistently in a manner contrary to the general interest of the community; but not otherwise. 3. Where three persons, of whom at least two occupy different premises, are prepared to sign and do sign a complaint in the prescribed form, alleging the existence of a nuisance created by a dog, the Town may serve on the Occupier of the premises in which that dog is kept, a notice requiring him / her to abate the nuisance within fourteen (14) days, and if the nuisance is not so abated the Town may institute proceedings for an offence against sub-section (1). Ranger Services tel (08) Administration Centre Locked Bag No. 437 admin@vicpark.wa.gov.au fax (08) Shepperton Road Victoria Park WA abn Victoria Park WA 6100

2 How to Get Results The First Step What Can You Do? The Town s Rangers have a strict procedure to follow when investigating nuisance dog barking complaints. Before accepting a Dog Nuisance Barking Complaint, Rangers will always request that the complainant speak directly to the dog Owner. We request this to encourage good neighbour relations. So in the spirit of fostering and maintaining good neighbourhood relationships, the first step that the complainant should take is to approach the dog s Owner, your neighbour, directly. It is important that you approach the dog Owner as soon as the excessive barking becomes a problem. In the vast majority of cases if the you approach the dog Owner in a courteous, informative and neighbourly fashion, you can work together to solve the barking issue. Dog issues left unaddressed can result in neighbourhood relationships becoming strained. Please note: Dogs are sensitive to changes to their daily routines and should it suddenly become a problem with excessive barking circumstances could have changed at home such as a death in the family, a new baby has arrived or the dog s Owner may have commenced shift work. Explain the situation to your neighbour. They may not even be aware of the dog barking. It could be occurring during the time the Owner is away, or they may have become desensitised to the noise and not be aware of the effect it is having on others. Do this with the aim of having the issue resolved amicably. Avoid finger-pointing or accusing anybody of failed responsibility, neglect or the like. Provide some recent dates and times of the dog barking which can help them to resolve the issue. Should you be unable to approach your neighbour directly, write them a polite note. State the effects the barking is having on you, along with some specific dates and times of the barking to help assist with resolving the matter. This letter should not be anonymous as this may lead to ill feelings. Keep a copy of this letter for future reference. Give it time for the problem to settle. Give feedback to the dog s Owner to help them in their attempts. If you can keep a good log of the problem date, times, duration and the effect it has on you, this will help the Owner to work on how to best to deal with the problem and minimise its occurrence. This information may also be required if a Ranger has to be involved at a later stage. It is important that the nuisance is considered in isolation and does not become part of a dispute with a neighbour over other issues or is made as a result of the complainant s dislike of a neighbour. The dog should not be used as a way of getting even if a complaint on another matter has been lodged with the Town by the dog s Owner.

3 What If the Dog Owner Does Not Cooperate? Should the personal approach not result in solving the barking issue within a reasonable time frame, then the Dog Act 1976 allows for the local government to commence legal action against a dog Owner. As with any legal process, it will be up to the courts to determine the issue. As such you will be required to attend court and give evidence. If you are unable or unwilling to do this, we will not be able to commence any legal process. To comply with legislation and begin the legal process we need the following from you: a completed Form 6 this is our authority to commence action, and any evidence you have gathered so far such as a Barking Dog Diary, recordings, and any notes you have made. With this evidence, a Ranger will then explain to the dog s Owner, their rights and responsibilities and the legal process. They will go through dates, times and duration in an attempt to establish the reasons why there is an issue. The Ranger will provide the Owner limited advice on how to address the manner in which their dog is causing a nuisance and can offer them some contacts to get professional assistance. For more serious continuing issues, we may commence court action against the dog Owner or person in charge of the dog(s). Legal action is not automatic and will depend on an assessment of each case. This also will require further evidence to be gathered in the form of a Barking Dog Diary. What The Town Will Do? Should your direct and neighbourly approach fail to get some results in a reasonable amount of time, please contact Ranger Services on to initiate commencement of the legal process. To start the process of investigating the complaint, we will initially require some basic information such as the correct house number, days, times and what might be triggering the barking. A Ranger Services Administration Officer will explain to you the procedure for investigating your complaint and send you out the Form 6: Complaint as to a Nuisance Created by a Dog and a Barking Dog Diary. The Ranger will assess the desire of the dog s Owner to help with this matter and may either: give you some feedback as to what the dog Owner will be doing and let the issue progress. This allows the dog Owner time to resolve the problem. allow a fourteen (14) day period to start effective training techniques or acquire anti barking training devices. issue a Nuisance Abatement Notice. This notice is the start of a legal process that will require further information from you. Information required will be the fully completed Form 6 (the official dog nuisance complaint form) and commencement of the dog barking diaries. With any method, initially it may result in some changed behaviours in the dog including a potential increase in barking. It is important that you continue to monitor and note date, times and durations of barking.

4 The Legal Process The Paperwork Form 6: Complaint as to a Nuisance Created by a Dog and the Barking Dog Diary assist in the legal requirement to prove that the dog(s) is / are either: injurious or dangerous to health, creating a noise that is persistent or continues to a degree that is not considered a normal dog habit and has a disturbing effect on a person, or behaving consistently in a manner contrary to the general interests of the community. The following paperwork, provided in the pack, is required for taking the legal path: 1. Form 6: Complaint as to a Nuisance Created by a Dog please fill this out fully and accurately and return to us as soon as possible. 2. Barking Dog Diary this needs to be filled out accurately and sufficiently detailed to demonstrate in a Court of Law that: 2.a the dog creates a noise by barking or otherwise, and 2.b the noise persistently continues to a degree or extent not normally habitual in dogs, and 2.c the noise has a disturbing effect on the state of the complainant s reasonable mental, physical or social wellbeing. Each diary is generally recorded over a 14 day period. You may need to complete more than 1 diary over the period of the investigation. 3. Nuisance Abatement Notice this will be issued to a dog Owner that has not resolved a barking issue in a timely manner. This notice officially requires the person responsible to abate the nuisance within a given time frame. If they fail to abate the issue, then the local government may issue an infringement notice and/or instigate court action. You will be notified once the abatement notice is issued. To ascertain if the barking has reduced or not, we will need you to start and complete a further dog barking diary for that period. How To Complete a Barking Dog Diary Please remember the Barking Dog Diary is a legal document and will be presented in court as evidence. As such it needs to be neat, accurate, precise and unemotional. Do not leave blanks. The diary will need to be completed in the following manner: Date The date of each instance is to be recorded. Dittos are not acceptable. Barking time from and to The time that the barking started and ceased is to be recorded. Even it is for 10 minutes every 20 minutes: Each occurrence must be recorded. Cause of barking if known When the dog is heard barking, check to see if there is any identifiable cause. The causes help to determine strategies to break the barking habit. Do not generalise such as dog bored or mongrel dog. Use real causes such as: dog is tied up the postman is going past children teasing the dog

5 The specific effects that the barking had on you The effect that the barking had on you is an important requirement and is a condition of any compliant. Again avoid generalising such as it annoyed me. This needs to be specified in words such as: kept me awake woke me up prevented my studying I had to close the windows on a hot day woke the baby up Statements in the diary such as: the dog is barking all day the barking continues for long periods of time or the dog is annoying do not provide sufficient detail for a minimum standard of evidence to support a complaint in a Court of Law. The Town will not proceed with legal action if the Barking Dog Diary is not completed sufficiently. Once the diary has been completed and you have checked it for accuracy, signed and dated it, please return it to: in person: or by post: Town of Victoria Park Administration Office 99 Shepperton Road Victoria Park Town of Victoria Park Locked Bag 437 Victoria Park WA 6979 Explanation of the Barking Dog Diary and Record Keeping Your assistance in collecting the necessary evidence is required by keeping a Barking Dog Diary. The diary needs to be as accurate as possible to clearly explain the problem. Ranger Services may present the diary to the dog Owner to assist in resolving the matter. Should this occur, your details will be deleted. Things to Remember If the dog Owner co-operates you should notice a difference. Some treatment strategies will unfortunately result in a temporary increase in barking while the dog adjusts. Please be aware of this. All documents can be produced as evidence in court and must be filled out correctly and fully. Please call the Town s Rangers if you are having trouble filling out the Barking Dog Diary or Form 6. All complainants may be called as witnesses to give evidence in court. Supplying incorrectly filled in documentation or poor evidence may result in the process having to start again or the complaint not proceeding. Legal action is not automatic and depends on assessment of each case. You can contact the Town s Ranger Services on for advice or help.