Noise from neighbors in Germany is a matter for the municipal Ordnungsamt, the public order office, not automatically for the police. Berlin tells residents which office owns which noise. For neighbors, parties and animals, Zuständig ist das Ordnungsamt des jeweiligen Bezirks, the public order office of the district is responsible. In Cologne, police had a locksmith open a door at 9:42 p.m. to take away dogs that had been barking for a long time. They had not contacted the city’s public order service, which could be reached until after midnight. In 2010 the administrative court of Cologne ruled the action unlawful. Only when the public order office could no longer be reached would responsibility have passed to the police. The police had to pay the locksmith themselves.