BARKING DOGS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 17, 20 January 1940, Page 22

BARKING DOGS

CHORUS OF POODLES

INJUNCTION SOUGHT

QUIET OF THE COUNTRYSIDE

(By Air Mail, from "The Post's" Londo Representative.) LONDON, December 22. Barking dogs were the subject c an astion brought by a Harley Stree specialist at the Sussex Assizes i Lewes. Df. Basil Parsons-Smith.' of Harle Street and Coopers Green House, Ucl field, applied for an injunction an claimed damages against Basil loe ides and the. Hon. Mrs. lonides, o Buxted Park, Uckfield, in respect c alleged nuisance caused by barkin dogs. Mr. John Flowers, K.C., for Dj Parsons-Smith, told Mr. Justice Hun [ phreys that the doctor bought Coopei Green House in 1935 in order1 * to hay rest, and quiet in the country at weel ends. Mr. and Mrs. lonides lived in a mar sion ' with 360 acres of land on th other side of the road, and on the edg of their park were some kennel which, in 1935, contained about 15 c 20 dogs. ) In the spring of 1938 the kenne! were enlarged to hold between 90 an 100 dogs, including poodles and Sky terriers. Dr. Parsons-Smith, in the bqx, sai( "During the summer we invariabl had to get up about five or six t close the windows because of th noise, and there was almost invariabl barking during the night as well. W fairly frequently had to go out for th day to get away from it." He ha complained to the rural district coui cil and to the police about the dogs. Questioned by Mr. Eric Neve,. X.( (for Mr. and Mrs. lonides), the doc tor denied that his description of th noise was "picturesque exaggeration! Mrs. Parsons-Smith said that on on occasion she complained to Mr. an Mrs. lonides about the dogs, and M: lonides shouted to her, "Get out c. my way, woman, and don't, be abusive. A resident in the district said tin the noise was like a pack of hound in full cry. "One can hear them mile away," he said. A lady said: "I have complained t the council and /to the Minister c Health at Whitehall and 'still it goe on." x ■■ ■ Another lady ; resident said that th noise.was so bad one night that sh could not bear it any longer, r..id £ midnight she went to the kennels t complain. Mr. lonides said that at the kennel there were.7o poodles, which were ver intelligent dogs. He denied that the caused annoyance. At one time the had in charge a kennel girl who we rather fond of entertaining gentleme friends late at night, and this cause the dogs to bark. She was discharge! and now they had a staff which cor ducted the kennels excellently. Th principal noise was when the dogs wer let out, when they were fed, and whe they were shut up, and this lasted onl eight ©r nine minutes. "It is a merr noise; they are cheerful dogs," he saic The head kennelmaid said that occj sionally foxes caused the dogs to barl Mr. Justice Humphreys, granting a injunction, said that Dr. Parsons-Smit had used rather strong language an he thought that "devastating volume of barking for hours at a time" ws an exaggeration. In spite of that, h was satisfied that the doctor had bee rendered extremely uncomfortable an life for him in the house which h bought for quiet and rest had bee hiade intolerable by the> proximity c the kennels. "Many of us think th£ it is much easier to find quiet in th town ' than it is in the country," r< marked the Judge. The Judge added that it might b possible to run the kennels withov: causing a nuisance if the number c dogs was substantially reduced. ] that could not be done the building would have to cease to be used a kennels.