Nuisance Animals

Barking is one way dogs communicate but excessive barking can disturb neighbours and cause annoyance. If you are annoyed by the noise from your neighbours dog there are several things you can do: talk to the owners, contact a Community Justice Centre or noise abatement order. Information is available on the EPA website for dealing with barking dogs.

Talk to the Owners

Contact the dog owner first. You may decide to talk personally with the owner, telephone or write to the owner. The dog owner may not be aware their dog is barking, particularly if it only occurs during the owner’s absence. In most cases owners will want to do the right thing and cooperate. A barking dog courtesy letter(PDF, 16KB)  can be forwarded on to your neighbour without having to contact Council.

Give the owner time to rectify the issue

If the owner agrees to do something about the barking, allow time for the owner to take action to address the barking problem. Dogs cannot be trained overnight and it may take some time to achieve the desired outcome. Maintain consistent and effective communication with your neighbour whilst they work toward training their dog and resolving their barking. Offer constructive feedback and continue to communicate on a regular basis. If required, complete the barking dog diary included in the Barking Dogs Information Pack to assist in monitoring the situation. 

Contact Council

In some circumstances, when communicating with your neighbour with regard to the barking dog situation has not been effective, you may need to contact Council to discuss further action. Ensure information provided is accurate and include details of time, date and duration of the barking as well as evidence of attempted communication to resolve the situation. Include a copy of the completed barking dog diary(PDF, 183KB)

Cats and cat owners have important new protections and responsibilities under the Companion Animals Act. For the first time, new cats will have to be microchipped and lifetime registered. Owners of new cats must microchip and register their pets. This means having your cat microchipped first, then registering your cat with your local council.

Existing cats which stay with their current owner do not have to be registered. But all cat owners should identify their cats, either through microchipping or by using collar and tag. This will help protect their cat if it is lost, hurt or stolen. While cat attacks are not as big of a problem as dog attacks, cats can kill or injure birds and other animals.

Local councils can seize cats which attack. Pounds will keep a registered cat for 14 days and an unregistered cat for 7 days. Chipped cats will be scanned at the pound and the owners notified.

All unclaimed animals are put up for adoption or rehomed through a register rehoming organisation

Nuisance Cats

Your local council can issue a nuisance order if your cat repeatedly makes noise or damages property. If you do not stop your cat doing these things, you can be fined.

Roosters are an integral part of most flocks of chickens, and some people find their vocalisations charming and enjoyable, while others disagree. 

Keeping roosters in an urban environment is not recommended as they can cause neighbourhood conflict and create offensive noise which can be considered noise pollution requiring enforcement by Council Rangers. 

There are a number of ways you can reduce the amount of time a rooster spends crowing, which ought to keep the neighbours and any light sleepers in your house satisfied. 

Be aware that it's pretty much impossible to get a rooster to stop crowing altogether; the most you (and any complainers) can hope for is making your rooster less bothersome (rather than altogether quiet). 

Step 1 - Get him some girlfriends 
Some roosters vocalize because they aren't satisfied with the size of their flock. If you give him a few more hens to boss around, a rooster may calm down, and spend more time directing the ladies, and less time trolling for more. It's also important to let your rooster mingle freely with the hens; if separated, he may start to crow even more. 

Step 2 - Look out for rivals 
If you have multiple roosters, keep them well apart, and if your neighbours have a rooster, consider setting up designated areas for each rooster and his flock to reduce conflict. 

Step 3 - Confuse your rooster 
Roosters have a very finely tuned internal clock, and they crow as they sense daylight approaching. If you're so inclined, you can actually track your rooster's crowing through the year, and you will notice that the time of crowing shifts in response to seasonal changes. However, you can trick your rooster's internal clock with the use of an artificial light source and an enclosed chicken house. When you bring your chickens into your enclosed chicken house for the evening, use a light to extend the "daylight," tricking the chickens into thinking it's light when it is actually dark outside. Turn the light off before you go to bed. 

In the morning, the chickens will think it is earlier than it is because the chicken house is still dark. Therefore, your rooster may be confused enough to wait to crow until you let the chickens out. 

Step 4 - Feed him 
If you distract your rooster with foods that require some effort to eat, you may be able to get him to start crowing later in the day. Corncobs and puzzle cubes of food like those used to train dogs can be useful for this. Toss the food in at the end of the night and consider hiding it under some straw so that it won't be found until the rooster starts stirring. If you're lucky, your rooster will be diverted by the food. 

Step 5 - Enrich his environment 
Contrary to popular belief, chickens are actually quite intelligent animals, and they can get bored, just like everyone else. Your rooster may be crowing out of restlessness or boredom. Try mixing things up in the chicken coop with toys, new perches, and cubbyholes to explore, and move things around periodically so that the environment doesn't remain static. 

Your rooster may become so busy exploring the environment and checking for hazards to the flock that he will take a break from crowing. 

Keeping a rooster quiet can be a challenge, as some roosters simply have a need to crow, no matter what you do. However, these tips should make the task a little simpler, and they will also demonstrate a good faith effort on your part if the neighbours come around to complain. 

Keeping roosters in an urban environment is not recommended. 

If your rooster is causing neighbourhood conflict, you may find that reaching out to your neighbours resolves the issue, whether or not you can control your rooster. Offer them eggs or the loan of the flock for a few hours to get rid of garden pests and be sure to be friendly with the neighbours to cultivate good relations.

If Council receives a complaint about offensive noise, they may issue a Prevention Notice requiring you to reduce the noise or remove the rooster.

For further information download the Controlling Rooster Brochure(PDF, 163KB).