Cherry Hill, NJ Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)
Barking dog rules in Cherry Hill, NJ, 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
- Bright-line test
- 10 min continual or 30 min intermittent
- Defense
- Provoked barking is exempt
- Maximum penalty
- $100 fine, up to 90 days
- Enforcing officer
- Township Animal Control Officer
- Governing section
- § 8-2.12, Chapter 8
Summary
Cherry Hill Township Code § 8-2.12 makes it unlawful to own, keep or harbor a dog whose barking creates a noise disturbance across a residential property line, defining a violation as continual barking for ten minutes or intermittent barking for thirty minutes unless the dog was provoked.
It shall be unlawful for any person to own, keep, harbor, or have custody of any dog which frequently or for continued duration, makes sounds that create a noise disturbance across a residential real property line. For the purpose of this subsection, a noise disturbance from a barking dog shall be defined as that created by a dog barking continually for ten (10) minutes or intermittently for thirty (30) minutes unless provoked.
Full Breakdown
12, adopted under Ordinance #76-54 and amended by Ordinance #91-50 in 1991, sits in the Dogs article of Chapter 8, Animal Control. It targets sound that 'frequently or for continued duration' crosses a residential property line, and it supplies a bright-line test rather than leaving 'nuisance' to a judge's ear: ten straight minutes of barking, or thirty minutes of intermittent barking, counts as a noise disturbance, unless the dog was provoked, which is a defense built into the ordinance itself. The section does not require a decibel reading or a noise-consultant complaint process; a neighbor's account of the duration is the operative evidence.
1 to include anyone with a property right in the animal or anyone who keeps it, so a tenant keeping a dog for a traveling owner is equally on the hook. 2, is the enforcing officer and issues the summons. 13, complaints often arrive alongside those issues, but a barking complaint stands on its own and does not require any showing that the dog has ever left its owner's property.
Violations & Fines
Section 8-2.22d groups §§ 8-2.11 through 8-2.17 under one penalty clause: a violation carries a fine of up to $100.00, imprisonment for up to ninety days, or both, at the Municipal Court's discretion. There is no separate bureau schedule specific to barking, so the case is heard in Municipal Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cherry Hill
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