Dog owners face £78 fines for pets 'barking too loud' between 6pm and 7am

Dog owners face being FINED for pets barking too loudly, it has been warned. In Panama, UK expats have been warned over new $100 (£78.70) fines for dog owners if their dog’s bark is above 50 decibels between the hours of 6pm and 7am.

The fine has been introduced due to noise complaints which have been filed over loud dogs. Mayor of Arraiján, Stefany Dayan Peñalba, signed the decree which was published in the official gazette on October 31 and shared by local media on Tuesday.

"I agree and how about fines for drunken people shouting loud when they walk home and how about fines for cat owners with cats who make noise when fighting other cats at night, and how about fines for drivers and riders with loud engines during the night and also pilots with loud plane engine noise," one responded on social media.

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The Animal Protection Community said: "Barking is a natural act, so it cannot be prevented; it cannot be modulated, but owners can try to recognise why dogs bark and based on this take measures to calm them." The group Defenders of Animals Panama warned that "a dog's bark can vary in volume depending on size, breed, and temperament of the animal, but generally, dog barks are estimated to reach between 60 and 90 decibels."

Decree 08 of the Mayor's Office of Arraiján warns the noise they may cause, or "not displaying the chip, QR code, ear tag or the corresponding means to identify and determine the details of the animal, whether domestic or farmyard, including those of its owner."

Panamanian lawyer and congressman Ernesto Cedeño said on his social networks that the mayoral decree is "largely illegal", and called on Panama's Office of the Ombudsman to give courses on local government because "this is getting out of control."