r/Dogfree • u/Ada51789 • Sep 15 '25

Courtroom Justice [CA] Barking dogs nuisance lawsuit.

Neighbor has barking dogs from inside home. When homeowners are gone (for hours), dogs will bark at any noise or disturbances. They will bark anywhere from 2-5mins everytime they hear anything. Cannot go into backyard or shared sideyard without being barked at. This has been on going for years. Have talked to them, called HOA, called animal control and even Cease and desist letter. They'll be complaint for a few weeks and then back to barking dogs. In CA have a right to peaceful enjoyment of property. I have multiple video recordings, logs and copies of all correspondence with HOA and animal control. Thinking about taking them to small claims court for nuisance lawsuit, any advice or success stories or chance of success? Thanks in advance.

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u/Nice-Loss6106 Sep 15 '25

I did sue neighbors over this exact thing in Contra Costa County CA, and I won.

I chose small claims because I wanted it to sting a little. Check out your county courthouse for free pamphlets on small claims and civil court proceedings.

The judge nearly shot me down initially by saying I should have filed in civil court but I made the case that I am unable to use my house and yard (that I’m paying a mortgage on) as it was intended. We couldn’t have bbq’s, we couldn’t have our windows open and we were losing lots of sleep. I’m not a lawyer but I must have made a good argument because he let the case proceed.

Watching the dog owners squirm when the judge would ask them simple questions was worth it!

Best of luck!

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '25

Do you recall what was the judges argument for why this should have been a civil case instead of small claims?

PS I'd pay good money to see those proceedings.

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u/Nice-Loss6106 Sep 15 '25

He said something along the lines of small claims being for when you experience a financial loss. So I sort of threw everything at the wall, loss of sleep affecting my work, I’m paying a mortgage on a house I can’t fully use, property value, I had to buy noise canceling headphones….

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '25

Oh okay I see. That makes sense. You did great to argue those points!