A group of exasperated Marsa residents took to the witness stand for a second time today to complain about the stench of excrement emanating from a house in their street and constant barking from 12 dogs.

They testified in proceedings against Agostino Borg, 52, who according to them allowed the situation to degenerate to such an extent that people living in the vicinity could not even open their window due to the smell.

Mr Borg stands charged in two separate cases with breaching the peace, discarding garbage in the street and failing to stop his pets from annoying neighbours.

Taking the witness stand, Ivan Silvio from the department of health said that the last inspection at Mr Borg’s property was on May 19. There had been a number of reports lodged with the department but when the inspection was made, everything was satisfactory. He said there were 25 cats and 12 dogs in the property and it was clean.  

In contrast to what Mr Silvio said, the neighbours told a hellish story of how they were unable to rest when they wanted to, or even open windows because of constant barking or horrid smells coming from the house.

Taking the witness stand, Joseph Zammit, said that on behalf of the group of 16 residents, he had presented a criminal complaint to the police. He said that there were a large number of animals in the house which had become a sanctuary. There was barking at every hour and Mr Borg also swore and blasphemed to the point that the neighbours could hear him. He would do it purposely, addressing the dogs so that they could hear him. He would also instigate the dogs to bark louder.

The neighbours said that they could not go on living in this situation and it had become unbearable.

The case continues.