The two wealthy couples living next door to each other in a fashionable London suburb both seemed to have it all: young families, fabulous homes and enviable lifestyles.
There were just two problems: a pair of German Shepherd guard dogs in the back garden of one couple that would not stop barking.
So bitter and long-running was the ensuing row between the dogs’ owners and their noise-sensitive neighbours that even long after the vocal animals were finally rehomed a legal case is still rumbling through the courts at huge expense, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The two couples, city financier Filippo Alloatti, 47 and his French wife Lucie, and business owners Mohammed and Saima Uddin, have now been at war for five years – and tens of thousands of pounds is thought to hang on the result of their feud.
Their fallout began in 2021 within days of the Uddins – who have a young daughter and were fearful of being burgled – engaging two Alsatian guard dogs to live outside at their property, in a tree-lined street near the common in Streatham, south London.
Mr Alloatti, head of financials for credit investment firm Federated Hermes, soon began complaining about the amount and volume of barking he could now hear.
He and Lucie, who ran her own boutique clothing company, said their three teenaged children struggled to do their homework because of the incessant noise and developed a fear of dogs.
Eventually the Alloattis, who had a second home in a fashionable seaside resort in Kent, said they were forced to vacate their £1million home every weekend and during each school holiday to get away from the noise of the two Alsatian dogs.
The two couples, city financier Filippo Alloatti (pictured), 47 and his French wife Lucie, and business owners Mohammed and Saima Uddin, have now been at war for five years
Mr Alloatti and Lucie (pictured) first fell out with the Uddins, their next door neighbours on a tree-lined street near the common in Streatham, south London, in 2021
Mr and Mrs Uddin (pictured) – who have a young daughter and were fearful of being burgled – had engaged two Alsatian guard dogs to live outside at their property
Mr Alloatti, head of financials for credit investment firm Federated Hermes, soon began complaining about the amount and volume of barking he could hear on the road. Pictured: The Uddins’ home, left, and the Alloattis’ property, right
The Alloattis said that the dogs, in training to bark on command and to bite on intruders’ sleeves, would be left alone in the garden most of the time, rarely taken for walks, and have minimal interaction with the Uddins.
Mr Alloatti further alleged that extreme barking by the dogs meant he could not sleep at night and that Lucie was forced to abandon her clothing business which she ran from home, while his children were unable to concentrate on their homework.
They also maintained that they were unable to entertain guests which meant that their social life was severely impacted.
Finally the Alloattis sued the Uddins at the High Court for damages of £25,000 and also sought an injunction to force them to either rehome the dogs, or to keep them locked up at night.
They also sought damages to cover the cost of staying away from home and damages for the disruption to their lifestyle.
Initially the Uddins contested the case, claiming that the dogs only barked normally.
But as the costs mounted, the couple eventually caved in and had the dogs taken away.
They had hoped and expected that this would resolve the matter but Mr Uddin said this week that the legal action against him is ongoing despite the dogs being removed.
Mr Uddin told the Daily Mail this week: ‘The dogs have been rehoused because we don’t want any more problems over it.
‘We could not live under that kind of surveillance anymore.’
In addition to the damages, Mr Alloatti was also seeking an injunction from the court ordering that the dogs be rehomed.
Another alleged microaggression mentioned in documents submitted at the High Court claimed that after first receiving complaints about the barking in September 2021, the Uddins moved two wheelie bins into a passageway running between the two houses.
This had been to make the dogs less likely to escape from the back garden where they were allowed to run loose but it was alleged that it had effectively stopped the Alloattis from using the passage for their own bins.
Pointing to the alleyway this week, Mr Uddin insisted that he no longer places bins there.
‘You’ll have to ask the Alloattis or their lawyer why legal action is continuing,’ he said.
The Alloatis are being represented by leading London law firm Forsters who said they did not want to comment.
Mr Alloatti had kept a sample diary noting each time he heard barking coming from next door – and recorded 74 episodes of barking in one 24-hour period, and 70 times on a different day.
To make tensions between the two families even greater, it was claimed that even when the dogs were locked in a garden summerhouse at night they frequently escaped.
Police were called after one of the dogs was particularly aggressive to Mrs Alloatti when she was in her own garden, it was claimed. There were also noise complaints to Lambeth council.
The Alloattis commissioned an acoustic report which stated that the noise from the dogs exceeded World Health Organisation guidelines for gardens, and for sleeping with windows both open and shut, and exceeded what would be considered normal from a domestic property with a dog.
One of the German Shepherds was described as having ‘noise phobia’ which meant it reacted to everyday noises such as aeroplanes and emergency vehicles with excessive barking.
In response the Uddins insisted that barking is ‘normal behaviour’ for a dog. They also produced a noise report which said the barking was not a legal nuisance.
Neighbours on the leafy road were split on the merits of the case this week.
Eventually the Alloattis, who had a second home in a fashionable seaside resort in Kent, said they were forced to vacate their £1million home every weekend and during each school holiday to get away from the noise of the two Alsatian dogs (pictured)
One said: ‘It’s a lot quieter now because the dogs aren’t there but to be honest, it didn’t bother most of us even when they were.
‘I think it’s become personal between them and it’s a pity that they can’t just shake hands and move on.’
Another said: ‘They were quite loud but ‘I’ve not heard the two German Shepherds in quite a while – and it’s probably best that they’ve found a new home for them.
‘I’m not sure what the problem now is and why lawyers are still involved.’
Another neighbour added: ‘A lot of us have dogs around here and when we heard about this legal action, we all became a bit worried in case our dogs started barking too loudly too. Because if there’s one thing all dogs do, it’s bark.’
