The public will be encouraged to take civil action in cases of anti-social dog barking, rather than relying on council officers.
Staff shortages in Highland Council’s environmental health service have prompted a change of protocol in dealing with dog barking complaints.
Such complaints have burgeoned in Highland from 85 in 2014 to 139 last year.
In Inverness, the figure has more than doubled from 35 in 2014 to 76 last year.
Ross & Cromarty has also seen a doubling of complaints, while in Lochaber and Badenoch & Strathspey figures have gone down.
Councillors will this week be asked to approve limiting environmental health officers’ investigations to day-time only, and to restrict the number of visits they undertake.
Instead complainants will be pointed towards a law which will enable them to pursue their own civil action.
The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 allows aggrieved neighbours to have their case determined by a Justice of the Peace, which could result in a court order being served on the dog owner. Breach of this order is a criminal offence.
Using Environmental Protection 1990 Act allows councils to take action, but Highland Council says the process is too time-consuming for officers, and too hard to obtain sufficient evidence to establish that a statutory nuisance exists.
