A woman has been ordered to reduce the number of dogs she owns because of how much they bark.
Abigail Findlay-Stankovic, 67, was believed to have been keeping up to 16 dogs in her semi-detached house on Bluebell Court in Beechwood, Runcorn, when an investigation began in 2018 following complaints from neighbours.
This led to a noise abatement notice being served, which she breached, leading to her being fined in March this year in a prosecution brought by Halton Borough Council’s environmental health department.
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She returned to North Cheshire Magistrates’ Court in Warrington on September 9, where she was made subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) that requires her to reduce the number of dogs she keeps to two animals by December 1.
Court papers said the CBO also prohibits the presence of any other dogs on the premises, inside or outside, temporarily or permanently, from December 1.
The order was made following Findlay-Stankovic’s conviction of breaching a noise abatement notice on March 1.
The CBO runs for two years, and Findlay-Stankovic was also ordered to pay costs of £250.
A Halton Council spokeswoman said the local authority applied for the CBO after Findlay-Stankovic was convicted in March for breaching the noise abatement notice, when the dog owner was fined £480 and told to pay a £48 victim surcharge and £1,500 in prosecution costs.
The council said the investigation began in 2018 when she was believed to be keeping up to 16 dogs at the house.
It sent a letter to Findlay-Stankovic to advise her that a complaint had been received and warned that the council could use sound recording equipment in its investigation.
The local authority said recordings confirmed the “dogs were barking repeatedly to the extent that they caused a statutory nuisance”.
But complaints continued even after the council served a noise abatement notice and sound recording equipment was installed again in March 2019.
Further barking was recorded, leading to the conviction on March 1 this year for breaching the notice.
The ECHO tried to contact Findlay-Stankovic following the imposition of the CBO but received no response.
