Carroll County, MD Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 90.09(B) of the Carroll County Code of Ordinances, part of the county's general animal behavior standards, requires every owner to keep an animal from "vocalizing unreasonably so as to disturb neighbors in the community during the day or night or prevent neighbors from the use and enjoyment of their property." The provision sits alongside companion duties in the same section: owners must also keep an animal from approaching passersby in a menacing or aggressive fashion (90.09(A)), from destroying private property (90.09(C)), and from a pattern of behavior that could reasonably lead to the animal being deemed a public nuisance animal (90.09(D)).

The section carves out an express exception for a working farm, so livestock and farm dogs on an active agricultural operation are not covered by the noise clause. Enforcement runs through the county's Animal Care and Control Authority and its Animal Control Officers, the same agency designated by the County Commissioners under § 90.01 to supervise Chapter 90 and operate the county animal shelter. A repeated pattern of unresolved barking can also feed into a public nuisance animal determination under § 90.09(D), which carries its own consequences under the impoundment and violation-notice procedures of § 90.11.

This section applies countywide but only in the unincorporated area; incorporated towns inside Carroll County, such as Westminster, enforce their own municipal noise codes separately from the county ordinance.