Bryan, TX Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Bryan's code handles a barking dog as an animal nuisance violation, not just a general noise complaint. Sec. 10-10 addresses animals creating a nuisance, and subsection (a) makes it unlawful to allow the peace and quiet of the neighboring properties to be disturbed by an animal's barking, howling, crowing, or other noise of any kind.

Several features of that sentence shape how it works. It is not limited to dogs. Crowing is named, so a rooster is covered, and the phrase 'other noise of any kind' reaches any animal sound. The duty falls on the person who allows the disturbance, which points to the owner or keeper and not the animal. And the measure is the effect on neighboring properties. The quoted text sets no decibel level, no minimum duration, and no time of day, so the question in Bryan is whether the neighbors' peace and quiet was disturbed.

Subsection (b) uses the same structure for odor. It is unlawful to allow the peaceable use and enjoyment of the neighboring properties to be disturbed by the smell of an animal, its food, its waste, or its enclosure. A complaint about a poorly kept pen can involve both subsections.

A separate dog-and-cat nuisance provision, Sec. 10-53(c), flags 'excessive barking or other noisemaking' as grounds for a citation. Animal control officers and police services can issue citations under the city's citation authority in Sec. 1-15.

The section's history note cites Ord. No. 2342, § 1, 4-9-2019 and Ord. No. 2551, § 4, 3-8-2022.