Ankeny, IA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)
Barking dog rules in Ankeny, IA, also called nuisance dog, dog noise, or excessive barking ordinances, define when a barking dog becomes a code violation and how complaints are handled.
Key Facts
- Standard
- Frequent, habitual howling, yelping or barking causing serious disturbance
- Also covers
- Dogs chasing people, bicycles or vehicles
- Criminal fine
- At least $50 plus surcharge and court costs
- Alternative track
- Chapter 4 municipal infraction, officer's discretion
- No fixed threshold
- No decibel limit or complaint count set
Summary
In the City of Ankeny, Iowa, City Code section 55.08 makes it unlawful for a dog owner to let the animal cause serious annoyance or disturbance to any person through frequent, habitual howling, yelping or barking, or by chasing people, bicycles or vehicles. A violation is a simple misdemeanor fined at least $50 plus surcharge and court costs, or a municipal infraction under Chapter 4, charged at the responding officer's discretion.
55.08 ANNOYANCE OR DISTURBANCE. It is unlawful for the owner of a dog to allow or permit such dog to cause serious annoyance or disturbance to any person by frequent and habitual howling, yelping, barking, or otherwise, or by running after or chasing persons, bicycles, automobiles or other vehicles. All violations of any provision(s) of Section 55.08 are hereby declared simple misdemeanors punishable by a fine of at least $50 plus surcharge and court costs and/or municipal infractions punishable by a penalty as listed in Chapter 4 of this Code of Ordinances. Violations may be charged as either a misdemeanor criminal offense or a municipal infraction at the sole discretion of the peace officer.
Full Breakdown
Section 55.08, Annoyance or Disturbance, targets the dog owner rather than the animal itself: it is unlawful for an owner to allow or permit a dog to cause serious annoyance or disturbance to any person through frequent and habitual howling, yelping, barking, or otherwise, wording broad enough to reach continuous whining or growling as well as barking. The same sentence also covers a dog that runs after or chases persons, bicycles, automobiles or other vehicles, so a chronic barker and a chronic chaser are cited under the identical section.
Ankeny writes the penalty into the section itself rather than leaving it to the general Chapter 4 schedule: a violation is a simple misdemeanor punishable by a fine of at least $50.00 plus the state surcharge and court costs. The Ankeny Police Department's peace officers keep an alternate track available, charging the same conduct as a municipal infraction under Chapter 4 instead of pursuing the misdemeanor, and the Code leaves that choice to the officer's sole discretion rather than requiring a complaint threshold or a specific decibel reading.
Because the standard is "serious annoyance or disturbance" judged by "frequent and habitual" conduct rather than a fixed noise limit, enforcement turns on what an officer or a hearing later finds credible from a neighbor's complaint.
Violations & Fines
A dog owner cited under section 55.08 faces a simple misdemeanor fine of at least $50 plus the state surcharge and court costs, or, if the officer chooses that track instead, a municipal infraction under Chapter 4. The Code sets no separate escalating schedule for repeat barking complaints beyond that same choice between the two enforcement paths.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many barking complaints does it take before Ankeny cites the owner?
Does the barking-dog rule also cover a dog that chases cars?
What penalty applies to a habitual barking complaint?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Ankeny
Compare Ankeny to another location·View the Iowa noise ordinances overview
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