How many dogs are legal in a home?

[farmgirl]

My neighbour has 26 dogs which as you can imagine is a huge problem.Howling and barking all night. That is apart from the sheep, goats, doves, guinea fowl, chickens, pigs.............all on a tiny plot covered in concrete pens so there is no grass left. All looked after by the way. I have spoken to him (nicely) and written him 3 letters (explaining my distress). Finally after 3 years of torment I told him I am reporting him to the Ayuntamiento. That night a 4x4 arrived with dog trailer and most were removed. However they have been returned less than a week later. I assume he was afraid of consequences but now thinks I was bluffing. As I live in the campo some people say i will get nowhere and others say to report him. i don't know what to do. Any ideas.

[oliveview01]

Oh dear, I can see a problem ahead!! I help at the dogs refuge in Marchena, I wonder if the man/police will fetch them to us if he has to move them? We have no room or money for more dogs!

[farmgirl]

Not a problem with that. This is a well connected Spanish person with many options which he chooses not not pursue! I only want info re: law.

[olive]

I don't know the answer to your question but we visited some Spanish friends who also live in the campo and the house before them was fenced off and contained FORTY dogs (all hunting dog breed). The friends' lad said they bark all night and even he couldn't understand why they needed so many. He said a Real ? was enough ( thirty apparently). personally I think one is enough and should be well behaved.

[country boy]

We live in the Campo and fortunately own sufficient quantities of it not have very close neighbours, but,....dogs bark out here incessantly, I simply do not understand how their owners do not find it disturbing, but they don't so what is the point of mentioning it? The Spanish DO NOT HEAR BARKING DOGS (that's me barking!). If you want to live here and not go mad, you have to live with it. Going to a magistrate or the police will only have you labeled as a "Crazy Guiri"..sorry!

[olive]

I wonder if all of these dogs have pet passports or are micro chipped or up to date with rabies shots?

[country boy]

[Enrique]

Following on from olive............


And registered with local town hall...........had to do that with our UK dog(tourist) as well

[farmgirl]

Country boy is so right. I do fear being labelled as the 'crazy guiri'! They already think I am the 'rich bitch' next door. If only they knew!! Because so many of us treat our homes as our castles they think we must be rich otherwise why would you bother doing up a campo house. That is why I have left it and left it but the howling and barking has risen exponentially year on year along with dog numbers. The reason I am upset is that I have been so nice and yet even after telling them what a problem it was they built more kennels and they have bred more and more puppies. It is the total selfishness that gets to me. She glares daggers at my now. Isn't it me who should be angry?

[ladymuck]

As long as they are treated well thats the important thing. didnt you see the dogs when u moved in.

This is spain and you are a visitor here dont try to change the spanish especially inthe campo.

I know its annoying but thats life , cant you move

[farmgirl]

As I said in my last reply, the problem has risen over the 6 years I have lived here!! So you just think it is acceptable to put up with this because I am a foreigner. I assure you lots of my Spanish friends think it is unacceptable! I have lived here for 11 years always in the campo so I assure you I am not an idiot. Have you heard of the crisis. Don't you know houses aren't selling.

[Colinm]

As long as they are treated well thats the important thing.

Get a grip! They are animals and relatively unimportant compared to the health and sanity of a human

[Donz.]

I'm afraid I have to agree in that life in the campo is not the same as life elsewhere in Spain ~ many of the locals are not educated and haven't left the vicinity even. Not to say that they are stupid but just don't KNOW there are other ways and will always do it the way the family always have.

The local policia and town hall are likely to do very little - even if you denounce them, they are obliged to make the report but they are highly unlikely to follow up on it. Seprona are there for abused or un-cared for dogs but if the dogs are ok, have water food and shelter it is very unlikely you'll get anywhere apart from making local enemies (which you really do not want).

I am not sure there is much you can do in all honesty. You may not appreciate that you are the foreigner here (no matter how long you have lived here, pay your taxes or how well you speak the lingo!) but that is how it is (certainly in my area anyway) - if you are nice and polite and attempt to speak with them then they'll be just as courteous back but if you start stirring things up, things can get quite unhospitable

I wouldn't like to be in your situation - I have 7 of my own dogs but I also live in the campo with no neighbours and my dogs are pets so trained and live as such - they don't live outside or howl all night. The hunting pack that is about 10min drive from me - their night time barking can really carry but you get used to it. Living next door to 40 dogs barking all night - it might tempt me to rent my place out and move on if I couldn't get on with the neighbours. Yes we all know there is a property 'thing' going on but doesn't look like you have a whole heap of choices

[Julie]

Campo or no campo I would be doing something about it, being Spanish does not give you a free hand to do as you like, one dog barking is bad enough There are bad spanish nieghbours as well.

M

[Donz.]

in which case good luck with your quest - I hope you manage to get some sleep

[oliveview01]

We have a neighbour with over 20 peacocks, they make a dreadful noise, the first night here I thought I would never sleep again, what with the cockerels and the dogs barking too. Now we just do not hear them- even if our dogs bark we sleep through the noise! We have had visitors ask why were the dogs barking, we had not heard them, and we have the bedroom door and the windows open! There are 18 dogs (including our 3) within a minutes walk from here.

[frank]

- it might tempt me to rent my place out and move on if I couldn't get on with the neighbours. :

And someone else suggests selling, who the heck would want to rent or buy a place with 26 howling hounds on your doorstep?

[farmgirl]

Thanks Donz. Can I just say that I lived in the mountains south of Granada for years and although it was only 40 minutes to the coast most residents had never seen the sea. I know you are being kind re: Spanish campo life but the dictionary definition of stupid is:

stupid [ˈstjuːpɪd]
adj
1. lacking in common sense, perception, or normal intelligence
2. (usually postpositive) stunned, dazed, or stupefied stupid from lack of sleep
3. having dull mental responses; slow-witted
4. trivial, silly, or frivolous

I think 2 covers me and 1 covers my neighbours! LOL

I never said I didn't get on with my neighbours. I did until now. It has just got so much worse over the last year. I have endured much, much more than most would. It is the selfishness that upsets me. They know I am bothered by it but continue to build more kennels and breed more and more dogs. I allow their chickens (30-40 of them) to come into my garden although they eat some of my favourite plants. It is easy to judge me as an intolerant guiri but that is very much not the case.

[country boy]

If you like living where you are, in all seriousness, have you thought about ear plugs? My daughter cannot sleep without them as she is sensitive to even a ticking clock. Just a thought. Also some little pink pills might help you chill, they work for me when I'm stressed

[Julie]

What are the pink pills called ????????????