Barking dogs

Dogs communicate through barking and to alert its owners to danger or intruders. However, a dog that is continually barking can be a nuisance.  

Before involving the City, we encourage neighbours to speak to dog owners about the excessive barking. If you are not comfortable approaching your neighbours, you can call Ranger Services on (08) 9394 5000.  

Once we have your details and the address of the dog, we will send out a barking pack to the dog owners. This pack includes information on when the dog is allegedly barking and some strategies to implement to reduce this.  

Time must be given to the dog owners to allow them to implement some of the strategies suggested. However, if the barking does not reduce please call Rangers to discuss further. For an investigation to commence it is a legal requirement for the complainant/s to complete and sign a Form 7. Once this Form is received the Ranger will commence the investigation.

Rangers will then issue you with dog barking diaries. You will need to record the times the dog is barking, duration, weather, and what is happening in the area that may be causing the dog to bark.

These diaries are generally kept for 14 days. These diaries are legal documents which may be used to issue infringement and abatement notices to the dog owner.

Rangers can only follow what the Dog Act 1976 allows them to do.

Rangers cannot:

• Remove the dog from the property 
• Repeatedly speak to the dog owner without the evidence provided by the diaries.

If you have any questions please contact us.