A person had no alternative other than to move because of the unrelenting barking coming from the neighbours's homes, so he took them to court.

The claimant had suffered a nervous disorder (trastorno de ansiedad), which was recognised by the judge, so he (or she) ordered the two dog-owning families to take their pets elsewhere where they would not be a bother with their barking. They were also ordered to jointly pay 2,500 euros in compensation.

The accused appealed against the court sentence but the result was that the tribunal that handled the appeal increased the compensation sum almost five fold to 11,860 euros: one couple has to pay 7,116 euros and the other neighbour 4,744 euros.

The appeals court based their decision on the European Human Rights Tribunal and the Spanish Constitutional Court’s findings on the subject and concluded that the victim had fallen into a depression because of the racket that he had had to support over the years, day and night; hence its increasing the amount of compensation required.

(News: Province of Granada, Andalucia)