Police won't come to help with barking dog - threatened my girlfriend
We moved into a new apartment in the North of Portugal. The neighbor’s dog barks nonstop. We tried it all. Nice conversations, letters, nothing worked.
Whenever she leaves the apartment, she puts the dog on the balcony. Sometimes they crazy dog barks until early in the morning.
So we called the police to help.
They did not speak English, so I asked my girlfriend to handle it. She is Brazilian. Basically they told her they cannot help her. She was threatened by the policeman instead:
“You are a guest in this country”
“You are not allowed to film the dog and document it when the dog is barking”
“This is against Portuguese law and you will get in trouble”
Obviously, I filmed from my balcony and the street. So, if you are trying to get help here as a foreigner, you are lost. They look down on especially Brazilians.
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Comments1
Beige Rain
May 31, 2025
This is against the law. There is a noise law (“lei do ruído”) and the authorities must enforce that. I too had the same issue as you, and filmed the dog. I wrote a complaint by email and attached the film to it.
It took 3 or 4 months of not giving up with the complaining. I complained to them all, police, municipality, president of municipality, icnf for animal abuse (which you could do too, keeping a dog in a balcony in the sun and rain, can constitute abuse (depending on if the dog has a kennel, shade, etc)).
Unfortunately, you are being taken advantage of by the police that were there. Also, they are lying about the filming. They just don’t want to give themselves the trouble.
Fortunately for me, I am Portuguese, so I know how to get around, more or less. Still, even for us, it is painful, but we know the law (to the most part of us).
And yes, they will give you a lot of hassle. Especially, you are right, if it’s your girlfriend speaking Brazilian Portuguese dealing with the matter. Unfortunately. In the north I can imagine things will only be more old school… in Lisbon the mindset is a little different, for the better.
You have to evaluate if it’s worth the trouble, or if you can put up with the dog barking. They can choose to ignore you and will play you, as they did. I am sorry for saying this.
There is also a mentality that “dogs bark”, as in that’s what dogs do.
They must have a police man that speaks or understands English. Where in the north is this ?