Cecil County, MD Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)
Barking dog rules in Cecil County, MD, 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
- no frequent/long-continued animal noise
- First step
- owner notice by certified mail
- Then
- file Animal Complaint Form with ACCA
- Noise fine
- up to $1,000
- Exempt
- working farms, supervised hunting
Summary
Cecil County bars owners from letting an animal continually disturb a neighborhood's quiet with frequent or long-continued noise. Under §142-19, a neighbor must first send the owner a certified-mail notice quoting the ordinance before Animal Care and Control will investigate a complaint, and a continuing violation can draw a fine of up to $1,000.
D. The owner shall keep an animal from continually disturbing the quiet of any person or neighborhood, or shall keep any animal from causing frequent or long-continued noise to the disturbance of the comfort or repose of any person or neighborhood. (1) Any person disturbed by a continually noisy animal shall first advise the owner or custodian who keeps such animal, by certified mail, which includes a copy of this ordinance section, of the fact that the animal, by causing frequent or continued noise, is disturbing the complainant or the neighborhood. (2) No owner or custodian shall fail to abate a nuisance caused by the frequent, habitual or continuing noise of his or her animal after having been notified by a complainant by certified mail. ... (5) Disturbing the quiet of a person or neighborhood per Subsection D: up to $1,000.
Full Breakdown
" The chapter builds in a mandatory first step before County enforcement: a person disturbed by a noisy animal must first notify the owner by certified mail, including a copy of the ordinance section, of the specific complaint. Only if the owner then fails to abate the nuisance does the complainant contact the Animal Care and Control Authority using the County's Animal Complaint Form, and the Authority investigates the documented complaint. If the Authority decides it lacks sufficient evidence to proceed, the complainant still keeps the right to swear out a complaint directly in the District Court under Article 24, §11-504(l)(5) of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
Working farms using normal and customary practices, and animals accompanied by their owner during supervised hunting, are excluded from §142-19 entirely. A continuing noise violation can also feed into a broader public-nuisance-animal finding, and repeated citations against the same residence or facility within 24 months can trigger the chapter's separate public-nuisance-facility provisions.
Violations & Fines
Section 142-19F(5) sets a fine of up to $1,000 for disturbing the quiet of a person or neighborhood under Subsection D. The same section fines a menacing or aggressive animal without contact up to $250, with contact up to $1,000, an at-large animal up to $500, and destruction of private property up to $100.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I report a neighbor's barking dog directly to Cecil County?
What is the fine for a chronically barking dog in Cecil County?
Are farm animals covered by Cecil County's noise nuisance rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cecil County
Compare Cecil County to another location·View the Maryland noise ordinances overview
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