Shih Tzu crosses Ruby and Simba. Photo: Supplied / Nuzia Scaranci
A Napier woman claims neighbours have complained about her barking dogs because they have something against her.
A pair of Shih Tzu crosses, Ruby and Simba, have been the subject of 17 complaints from three neighbours who said they were being driven mad by their barking and howling - sometimes for hours at a time.
After three years of warnings from Napier City Council, the dogs' owner Nuzia Scaranci was issued with a compliance notice in September.
Since then, there had been an additional six complaints from two different neighbours.
The notice ordered Scaranci to try some remedies, like using anti-barking collars, keeping the dogs inside and away from distractions, and getting help from an animal trainer - but those had not been followed, council staff said.
In front of a Napier City Council hearings committee on Friday, Scaranci fought that notice.
"What I'm asking is to give my dogs a chance," she said.
Nuzia Scaranci with her husband Roberto, speaking to the Napier City Council hearings committee. (L-R along the table Councillor Graeme Taylor, Councillor Chad Tareha, Deputy Mayor Annette Brosnan). Photo: RNZ / Lauren Crimp
The crux of Scaranci's argument was that the complaints were unfair because they came from neighbours she did not get on with.
The barking was not an issue, she said - and she was backed up by her witness, a neighbour who lived directly below her, who said it had never been a problem.
In November, Scaranci installed cameras which alerted her when they detected noise. She had not noticed anything excessive, and was happy to give council access to those cameras, she said.
Scaranci also suggested neighbours may have actually been hearing sound from her portable speaker while she gardened.
Nuzia Scaranci with Ruby and Simba. Photo: Supplied / Nuzia Scaranci
"I presume that the motivation of 17 complaints is not actually my dogs barking, but maybe me outside listening to podcasts."
"I would appreciate it if you would stop laughing," she said to people in the public gallery, who she later identified as her neighbours.
But the barking had been independently verified by animal control officer David Whyte, who visited a neighbouring property for about ten minutes and said a dog barked the whole time.
"As soon as we stepped out to a living area, which borders the neighbouring property, the dog - and we believe it's Simba - came running out and was alert barking, so it was reacting to our presence," he told the hearings committee.
"Although we weren't in the vicinity of the property, just the noise of walking on the deck alerted the dog."
The committee could either confirm, modify or cancel the compliance notice - but that decision was reserved and would be delivered in writing at a later date.
