The recent judgment of the Supreme Court, no. 54531/2016, clarified how, if the dog disturbs the whole neighborhood, it can be seized. Obviusly, the complaint must be proposed by all the neighbors, and not just by some.

It is known that animals are one of the main causes of litigation because of their odors or noises.

Against the disturbances caused to the neighbourhood by our animal friends, it is possible to propose a civil action for damages when smells or noises exceed the limit of normal tolerance (value determined by the Court on a case-by-case basis).

If, on the other hand, the dog disturbs the rest and the activities of other subjects, we have, ex art. 659 c.p., the crime of "public disturbance" which unfortunately can cause the animal’s seizure.

To have a criminal action, it is necessary that the harassment is addressed to the whole neighbourhood and not to individual subjects, because only in this particular case there’ll be a real offense: on the other hand, individual disturbed neighbors can use a civil action.

The case law confirms that noise becomes intolerable when there is a background noise (continuous and incessant) over 3 decibels.

In case of crime, therefore, the seizure of the dog is fully legitimate: according to the ruling: "Men are superior to animals, they are the animal’s owner and they use them for their needs, even though trying to avoid their unnecessary suffering when these are not connected with the satisfaction of human interest".