Could this case be a landmark for Portugal?
The Lisbon court of appeal has ordered a retired couple to get rid of their 15-year-old pet because his constant barking upsets their neighbour.
The couple lodged their appeal against a similar earlier ruling (handed down by Oeiras court), arguing that the right to rest/ peace should not override the right to own an animal. But they have lost.
The appeal court ruled that “rest, tranquillity and sleep are constitutionally enshrined fundamental rights, which form part of the right to physical integrity, and which take precedence over the rights of the dog’s family: private property (to do whatever they want in their home) and the right to protect the ownership of the dog”.
Thus, the couple – which have argued that the dog is a ‘support dog’, and that he is undergoing training and treatment to reduce his barking – have been ordered to remove him from their property within 45 days. Any delay will see them charged €150 per day beyond that time limit.
For anyone reading this who has complained about ‘Portugal’s constantly barking dogs’, this ruling could stand as ‘a watershed moment’. Foreigners particularly take to social media to complain bitterly about ‘dogs in the neighbourhood that never stop barking’. The habitual response/advice is “get used to it. This is Portugal”. But Lisbon’s appeal court seems to think otherwise.
This particular case has taken YEARS to get where it has arrived today. The neighbour, who lives below the couple with the barking dog, has seemingly gone through a long and painful process: appealing first to the owners (on numerous occasions, and in writing), then through the condominium, a local society for animal protection, the PSP police and Municipal Police. Her doctor provided written testimony to the courts that she was suffering from stress and insomnia.
The problem with the dog was that it was / is apparently kept for hours on end on a veranda, and barks constantly.
The owners tried arguing that an order to remove him from their property was tantamount to a death sentence. Who, after all, will want to take ownership of a 15-year-old dog that barks all the time?
This may be the only question left now, as time ticks on the animal’s continued presence in an apartment block in Oeiras.
