East Ayrshire Council to request national review of legislation

The agreed motion means that the Council will urge the Scottish Government to review and amend existing environmental health and antisocial behaviour legislation to:

• explicitly include pets and other animals within the scope of enforceable environmental health provisions
• provide clearer powers for local authorities to investigate and act on animal-related antisocial behaviour, including persistent noise annoyance
• ensure local authorities have appropriate enforcement mechanisms, including penalties and remedial actions, in cases where owners fail to control their animals
• ensure local authorities also have sufficient funding and staffing resources to carry out the required investigations
• the Council also requests that CoSLA be invited to support this position to ensure a consistent national approach.

At the meeting an update was also provided to elected members on the Scottish Government's Independent Working Group On Antisocial Behaviour, which published its final review in February 2025. This report, which is advisory, argues that antisocial behaviour should be treated as a long-term social and public health issue, not only a policing or enforcement problem. It calls for a 'whole-system' response focused on prevention and early intervention. 

It is anticipated that the next steps may include a national consultation on legislative reform, pilot prevention programmes and the development of national antisocial behaviour strategy standards. 

Councillor Jim McMahon, Spokesperson for Housing, Transport and Communities said: "Across East Ayrshire there are increasing numbers of complaints about noise caused by pets, particularly dogs. At the moment there is no legislation to address issues that neighbours can experience, which is why the Council has agreed to write to the Scottish Government.

"A significant number of us are dog owners, and love our dogs, but we do recognise that barking dogs can cause upset and distress to others. And to be clear this isn't about a dog barking when the postman or delivery driver comes to the door or just normal dog behaviour, it is about persistent or excessive barking.

"The overall view at the meeting was compassion for the dogs. During the pandemic we were home with our dogs constantly and now they are having to adjust to us being back to 'normal', which can be a difficult period of adjustment. 

"Excessive barking can be a sign of something being wrong and there is training and guidance out there to help owners ensure their dog is healthy and happy, which is what we all want - happy dogs, happy owners, happy neighbours."

East Ayrshire Council is currently holding a consultation on the draft Antisocial Behaviour Strategy for 2026-31, which sets out key priorities, the framework for partnership-working and an action plan for the next five years.

The consultation is open until Sunday 5 July 2026. Visit our consultation page for more details

You can find helpful information online if your dog barks excessively