A mother has found herself embroiled in a £30,000 legal battle over her daughter’s hyper-sensitive dog, after disgruntled neighbours launched legal action against her over its “incessant yapping”.
Kim Eacott’s beloved terrier, Scally, suffered from so-called “separation anxiety”, and would bark for hours at her Hereford cottage whenever its owners were away.
Angela Waring, of Crickhowell, Powys, was held jointly responsible by a judge in the noise nuisance complaint, as she owned the Victorian cottage gifted to Miss Eacott, her daughter, where Scally the dog lived.
The court heard that Scally barked incessantly when Miss Eacott was not at home in 2011 and 2012, prompting neighbours Bryn and Diane Cocking to file claims that the “incessant yapping” was “unreasonable in its frequency and duration”.
Mrs Waring was urged to take Scally to “a dog whisperer in Abergavenny who can (could) cure him in a gentle way”.
The mother claimed to have made the suggestion to Miss Eacott, despite further complications that their mother-daughter relationship was strained, after Mrs Waring was advised by police not to talk to her daughter following a previous harassment complaint.
Miss Eacott was ordered to pay £3,500 in damages and her mother £1,000. Collectively, the duo were hit with a £31,000 legal costs bill.
Scally the dog has been put down following the noise nuisance complaint.
Victorious neighbours, Bryn and Diane Cockings, said: “Were it not for Mrs Waring’s failure to abate the nuisance, we would not have had to issue a claim at all.”
Lady Justice Arden argued Mrs Waring had “turned a blind eye” to the problem, and appeals court judges reserved their decision until an unspecified future date.