I was particularly interested to read the Times of Malta online responses to the news item about ‘Spice’ – the Siberian husky whose owners were taken to court and eventually cleared of all charges. They were found not guilty of failing to stop their dog from barking and being a general nuisance to neighbours.

Since I was not privy to the evidence and didn’t follow any of the proceedings, I am not really in a position to discuss the merits of this particular case with any authority; but given this is a subject that has frequently exercised my interest and anger, I should like to have my say.

While some comments were downright banal – being all bark and no bite – others were incisive and shrewd. Clearly what the problem ultimately boils down to is the thoughtlessness and lack of consideration of people. Make no mistake, I’m not blaming the animal here.

People who know me know that I love dogs, and not just from a distance. With me, it goes way beyond. I have, several times in the past, been only too happy to offer dog-sitting services and I’ll gladly walk dogs, take them swimming, clean up after them and make them feel right at home.

That said, on the few occasions I offered this service, I was careful never to leave these dogs unattended. I am, you see, fully aware that a dog left alone is a dog likely to bark and make a nuisance of itself. And that is a risk I am not willing or prepared to take.

Since I’m not home for a great part of the day and because I don’t live out in the sticks where noise wouldn’t be an issue, I have thus far resisted the temptation of getting a dog of my own.

My reason is simple. Being a person who values peace and quiet, a rarer and rarer commodity these days, I also respect totally the peace and quiet of other people. I happen to know how irritating and deeply soul-destroying it is to have to live, day in day out, with any sort of noise, particularly that of a barking dog. It’s a neighbourhood thing, even if the dog isn’t living in your immediate block, directly above or below. When it does, the problem is hellish.

Leaving a dog unattended for long periods, particularly when locked up on a terrace, roof or balcony, is incredibly selfish and inconsiderate. It is unacceptable that such people can leave their neighbours to suffer while they, unwittingly or more likely in full knowledge, go blithely about their business elsewhere. It’s also cruel to the dog. Police and Animal Welfare take note.

We should be able to go about our business without being barked at

Yes, chances are that a dog left out on a terrace or roof will bark every single time you open the door to yours. And there is no guarantee that the incessant yapping will stop, unless of course you’re prepared to tiptoe about in your own home or delay hanging out the washing so as not to arouse his attention. Such curtailment of personal freedom is as absurd as it is iniquitous.

The idea that a dog eventually gets used to the people who live nearby is a downright lie. In my experience – and I do have it at first hand – when you live in close proximity to a dog, any sort of innocuous movement could trigger his wrath, and there’s no telling when it will subside. Surely, the rest of us should be able to go about our business without being barked at?

The culture, official or otherwise, that sidelines our very legitimate concerns regarding privacy and tranquillity is de-sensitised and – dare one say it? – less than civilised. There’s indeed too much ‘privileging’ of selfish noise everywhere, be it from the construction industry or those who, lacking any interior life of their own, can only feel alive surrounded by the din of their own creation. Blaring stereos at the beach or parked beneath your window while you sleep, to name another of my pet hates.

I worked myself up into a right state a couple of months ago and sent a couple of lawyer friends of mine a message telling them that there’s a huge constitutional case out there waiting to be won.

I’m convinced that in a world where fundamental human rights are coveted, it is unacceptable to be forced to live in a perpetual state of misery, terrified of setting off a sleeping dog and bringing on a volley of barks guaranteed to cause the mother of all migraines. Beyond that of course lie real long-term stress and depression . . .

I also find it interesting that people with dogs think they have an automatic and divine ‘right’ to them. These are people who’ll bring up all sorts of specious mitigating circumstances calculated to make the complainant look irrational, petty-minded and heartless.

In the case of Spice, one of the owners suffered from multiple sclerosis and argued that the dog had a therapeutic effect on his well-being. While this may indeed be the case, I am equally sure that a dog’s barking can trigger a whole host of medical conditions in other people. I meant what I said about depression earlier.

So yes, unless you happen to live with Snoopy or can guarantee with unequivocal certainty that your dog will simply never bark when left alone, I don’t really think that people who work full time have a right to a dog unless they are prepared to take their dog with them.

A dog constantly left alone to its own devices is not a happy dog. In the stressful modern world, where every day is a battle against noise pollution – non-stop traffic, honking horns, noisy air-conditioners, fireworks from hell, jiggers, bread- gas- and doughnut-men – one desperately needs that ‘room of one’s own’, that inner sanctum where one is insulated, physically and psychologically, from the cacophony outside – dogs included.

michelaspiteri@gmail.com