ABA Family Legal Guide

Home Ownership

Managing Neighborhood Problems

Pets

What can I do if my neighbor's animals are creating a problem?

Some neighbors get along like cats and dogs--and in some cases, the problem is real cats and dogs. Consider the situation of two southern California neighbors whose yards were separated by a thick concrete wall. On one side was a litter of normally well-behaved Chinese chow dogs; on the other, two mellow cats. No problem--until the cats learned how to climb the wall, perch atop it, and glare down at the dogs. The dogs took to barking and yapping whenever anything stirred on the other side of the wall.

The entire neighborhood was unhappy. The cat owner blamed the dogs for the noise; the dog owner blamed the cats for teasing the dogs. Even more infuriated was a third neighbor, who worked nights and was trying to sleep when the "dog alarm clock" went off every morning. The trouble escalated when the dog owner started hurling shoes, balls, and other objects at the cats to chase them off the wall. One unidentified flying object sailing over the wall smacked the cat owner's child on the head. By that point, everyone was threatening to sue everyone else. The solution? The cat owner suggested a truce: The cats would go out in the mornings and the dogs in the afternoons. By late afternoon, all the animals could go out because the third neighbor would already be at work. The dog owner agreed to stop pitching things at the cats; the cat owner agreed to pluck the cats off the wall whenever she found them tormenting the dogs. The animal war ended as quickly as it had begun.

If you have a problem with a neighbor's pet, knowing your local laws can add clout to your efforts to resolve it. Your town probably has one or more applicable ordinances indexed under "Dogs" or "Animal Control" that can be enforced in court. Such laws often limit the number of animals per household, the length of time a dog may bark, or the frequency of barking allowed. Leash laws require that dogs not run at large, and pooper-scooper laws require owners to clean up after their pets. If polite requests to your neighbor don't work, call your local animal control service, which is likely to be more receptive to your problem than the police or other city officials. Unless the animal control authorities consider your complaint unreasonable, they will probably call the offending animal's owner with a warning, followed by a citation if the problem persists.

A citation is similar to a traffic ticket; it requires the offender either to pay a fine or to challenge the citation in court. After being punished in the pocketbook, many people will change their animals' behavior to conform to the law. If a person continues to allow his or her animal to annoy you, he or she can be fined repeatedly if you continue to complain.

If the problem persists, you may need to bring a civil lawsuit for nuisance to get a court order. The offender is likely to obey, because people who disobey a court order may find themselves in contempt of court. That can mean time in jail or at the bank, withdrawing hefty sums to pay a fine.

For animal problems, call the police only as a last resort. Police are generally not very interested in problem dogs, as they have more serious matters to worry about. Bringing the police into the equation also may sever any further relations with your neighbor.