Neighbours and nuisance from animals

In the Netherlands, 27 million pets are kept. That is more pets than there are Dutch people. Dogs and cats are especially popular. Around 2.9 million domestic cats roam around the Netherlands. Such a large animal population is often asking for trouble. Barking dogs, smelly cats and crowing cockerels are a major source of frustration between neighbours. This page describes the situation in the Netherlands.

Noise nuisance from animals

Animals in the neighbours' garden can make quite a racket. This includes barking dogs, for example, but crowing cockerels, braying donkeys and cooing pigeons can also cause noise nuisance. In principle, neighbours must be able to tolerate a certain amount from each other, and people simply have the right to keep (pet) animals, but of course they must not go too far. Whether animals cause noise nuisance depends on various factors. Someone who lives next to a farm, for example, must be able to tolerate more animal noises than someone who lives in a residential area.

Noise nuisance from a crowing cockerel

Crowing cockerels can cause a lot of nuisance, especially when they start crowing in the early hours of the morning. That is why the owner can be expected to keep their cockerel in a night coop until the morning.

For an example of such a case, we refer to a ruling of 30 March 2016 by the Gelderland District Court (ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2016:1810). In this case, there was a dispute about noise nuisance from a bantam cockerel. According to the claimant, this cockerel made a more screeching sound than other cockerels and also crowed more often and more loudly.

A report did indeed show that the cockerel crowed on average every 1.9 minutes, whereas in a control group this was once every 21.4 minutes. Environmental inspectors did not establish that the cockerel exceeded the test value of 70 dB(A), an upper limit set by the municipality. In addition, the owner had already taken a number of measures to limit the nuisance. For example, the cockerel was shut in its coop from sunset until 08:00, the night coop was adapted so that no daylight could shine in, and the night coop was soundproofed. According to the judge, this was sufficiently reasonable, and he therefore dismissed the claim.

Noise nuisance from barking dogs

Another case that came before the District Court of The Hague ('s-Gravenhage) (ECLI:NL:RBSGR:2008:BD9881) concerned a landlord who wanted to have the tenancy agreement dissolved because the tenant's dog was causing noise nuisance. In this case, several witnesses were heard, including a community police officer (wijkagent).

The witnesses all spoke of noise nuisance caused by the dog's barking. The community police officer had also observed that the tenant wound the dog up and made it bark loudly in front of the neighbours' door at half past six. Another neighbour also testified that at half past eleven in the evening he let his dog out and wound it up by shouting "loud, loud, loud", only to then send the dog back inside and yell "shut up" at the top of his voice. The subdistrict court judge (kantonrechter) eventually decided to dissolve the tenancy agreement. The man had to look for a new place to live.

Odour nuisance from animals

Animals can not only cause noise nuisance, but can also leave unpleasant smells behind. A constant smell of manure or a smell of ammonia from lots of cats is therefore anything but pleasant. In these cases too, neighbours must be able to tolerate a certain amount from each other. If the neighbour mucks out a stable for a while, that can simply cause unpleasant smells from time to time. And here too, other factors play a role. After all, in a residential area we do not expect ten pigs to suddenly be rooting around in the neighbours' garden. That is why the court will have to judge case by case whether there is odour nuisance. The court can then decide that the animals must go or that the owner must take measures to limit the odour nuisance.

Odour nuisance from cats

Owners often let cats spend time outside, where they also relieve themselves. They do this in the neighbours' garden, for example, and this can cause odour nuisance. This was also the case in a case that came before the Leeuwarden District Court (ECLI:NL:RBLEE:2010:BM5481).

In this case, neighbours had suffered odour nuisance from a man's cats for years. This man had eighteen cats in the house that could roam freely in the garden through a cat flap. Not all of these cats had been spayed or neutered, and litters of kittens were born regularly. The garden was fenced off with electric wire, but the neighbours spoke of an unbelievable stench coming from the garden. During a joint neighbours' meeting, they described this smell as the smell of "cat piss and shit". At the same meeting, the man admitted that there was a problem. "The cats have taken over", he is said to have stated there. He did say that he himself did not notice the smell and was not bothered by it.

The investigation showed that the smell in the neighbours' house, and certainly in their garden, was pervasive. During a visit to the cat owner, the penetrating smell of cat urine was described. This smell also spread to the garden and so caused nuisance for the neighbours. It was also concluded, however, that the man took good care of his cats and that they all looked well cared for and healthy. It also turned out that the man had only just cleaned the two litter trays present, but that because of the large number of cats they were already visibly dirty again.

The court eventually ruled that there was unlawful nuisance. It stated that the garden itself was not causing the odour nuisance, but rather the smell coming from the man's home. That is why the judge did not consider it necessary to have the garden cleared up. The judge ruled that the odour nuisance would automatically stop if the number of cats were reduced. That is why it decided that the man had to reduce his cat population from eighteen cats to three cats within four months. In the future, too, the man may never keep more than three cats in the home. In addition, he was obliged to have the remaining cats spayed or neutered.

Odour nuisance from dogs

In another case (ECLI:NL:RBDOR:2012:BW0477), a similar decision was made. In that case, the stench came from three dogs that were kept in a flat. There had previously been similar problems with the neighbour, and it had then been decided together with her that the number of dogs would be reduced from four to one. The odour nuisance had disappeared at that time, but not much later she took the dogs back into her home. A handyman who had carried out work in her flat stated that the roof terrace was completely fouled with dog excrement and spoke of an overwhelming smell of dog. The neighbour continued to deny the problem. The judge eventually ruled that the neighbour had to get rid of the two large dogs and was not allowed to take them back into her home in the future either. She was allowed to keep the smallest dog.

Other neighbour disputes involving animals

Finally, countless other cases can be thought of in which animals are the basis for arguments and discussions. Discussing every situation is probably an impossible task, but a few common problems and frustrations are explained briefly below.

Cats come into other people's gardens

Neighbours are obliged to contribute to separating plots of land, but cats in principle care little about that. They also come into other people's gardens and can cause damage there to the lovingly laid out flower garden, or leave droppings on, say, a chair. Something that is important to know in any case: the cat is not doing anything wrong, but is simply following its nature. So do not let the cat be the victim, and do not poison or mistreat the animal.

In practice, it is difficult to take action against this kind of nuisance, except in exceptional cases where eighteen cats live together and the nuisance is excessive. It is better to discuss the situation with the neighbours and ask them, for example, to install electric wire or keep the cats indoors. There are also a number of ways to keep cats away yourself.

First of all, this means removing things that are highly attractive to cats. Catnip, wild catmint and valerian, for example, attract cats. Replace them with plants that cats dislike. Examples are rue, lemon plants and tansy. A garden full of marigolds is also not very inviting for cats, and these also keep a number of annoying insects away.

A drastic but animal-friendly measure is a heron scarer, which automatically sprays a jet of water when a cat comes near. Electronic cat scarers that produce an unpleasant sound are also often recommended, but are not the ideal solution. The risk is that the cats are chased out of the area and no longer want to return home.

In addition, lion dung is said to be very effective in scaring off cats. The smell of such a big cat is said to keep the neighbours' pampered domestic cats at a distance. Bear in mind, however, that lion dung smells incredibly strong. In any case, it has been proven effective. In Israel, for example, it is used to keep animals away from electronic alarm sensors in the border areas.

Finally, you can also change the ground cover. Cats do not like walking over beech chips, rough bark and cocoa shells. They would then rather go for a walk on the nice soft grass of other neighbours.

Animals that cause damage

Animals can cause damage in various ways. The neighbours' dog can, for example, gnaw at the boundary fence or bite children's hands. Or think of a cat that sinks its claws into the fly screen. In such cases, the owner is almost always liable, even if they are nowhere to be seen. Still, there are also a number of exceptions to this rule. Think, for example, of youngsters throwing bangers so that a dog goes completely berserk and causes damage. Then the owner is not automatically liable, but the little louts of course are.

Dog bites cat to death

As stated earlier, cats may come into other people's gardens. In principle they do nothing wrong there, unless they cause damage. Sometimes, however, a cat ends up in the wrong garden. A garden where a four-legged friend with a hefty set of teeth is waiting for it. It would certainly not be the first cat to be torn apart. In such a case it is simple: if a cat were to attack a dog and cause damage, the cat's owner is liable. If, on the other hand, the dog attacks the cat, the reverse is true.

In a case from 2016 (ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2016:3194), too, a dog, an American Staffordshire Terrier, had bitten a cat to death. The neighbours' cat paid the dog a visit in its garden and was bitten to death there. At the Medical Centre for Animals (Medisch Centrum voor Dieren) in Amsterdam, it was established that the dog had an abscess, presumably from scratch and bite wounds caused by the cat. The dog's owner therefore held the cat's owner liable, but the liability insurer rejected the claim. The insurer argued that the dog was of such a type that it could bite the cat to death in one go, and that it was not plausible that the dog had been bitten by the cat during this incident.

The subdistrict court judge ruled that the dog's owner had not sufficiently demonstrated that the abscess was also the result of the fight with this cat. According to the judge, there was a real chance that the dog, given the reputation it had, had been scratched or bitten in another fight. The only thing that was established, according to the judge, was that the dog had bitten the cat to death. The judge set the current value of the cat at €150 and ordered the dog owner to pay this compensation.

The neighbours neglect their animals

When animals are neglected or mistreated, it is advisable to always report it. Do not turn a blind eye so as not to spoil the relationship with the neighbours. Animal suffering can be reported to the national reporting line 144 (landelijk meldpunt 144). Even if in doubt, it is advisable to contact them. If the owner also has problems and is clearly unable to take care of themselves and the animals, it is important that the community police officer is informed as well.

In any case, this is a crime that is dealt with under criminal law. So it goes further than ordinary neighbour law. Still, it has to be said that this is often not punished all that severely, but at least the animals are removed from this destructive environment.

A case from 2019 (ECLI:NL:RBLIM:2019:4269) shows as much. In this case, a mother and daughter with a learning disability had neglected their many animals. The facts were very nasty, and several animals died as a result of the neglect. The judge imposed a suspended community service order of 50 hours, stated that they could each keep a maximum of two animals, and ruled that all other animals had to be gone within a month of the judgment.

In the case above, the judge still took into account that they had a learning disability and did not have bad intentions. In another case (ECLI:NL:RBGRO:2006:AV6869), this was not the case. In this case, an owner of a large number of horses, ponies and dogs had neglected his animals. They were far too thin and malnourished, and they were not given any help at all to build them back up. The reports spoke of incorrect feeding and failure to deworm the animals. Eventually, six dogs and seventeen horses and ponies were seized.

The vet who examined the animals further found that they were strikingly thin and that their muscle mass had decreased sharply. Several animals had a serious stomach or intestinal worm infection, and in one of them an untreated oedema was found. At the hearing, the owner showed no sign of remorse, but spoke of a big conspiracy being hatched against him. All seized animals that turned out to be unhealthy were then declared forfeit. A single stallion that did not turn out to be unhealthy had to be returned. In addition, the owner was given a fine of €500.