Clinton Township, MI Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

19(d), part of the Animal Control Best Practices adopted by Ordinance 484 in 2023, defines incessant barking as to unreasonably disturb the peace as a form of nuisance behavior an owner must prevent. The section sets a specific evidentiary bar: evidence that a dog or dogs have barked or howled for an aggregate period of twenty minutes out of one hour is sufficient for conviction. That threshold does not require twenty continuous minutes, only twenty minutes total within any single hour window, documented by a neighbor's account, an Animal Control Deputy's own observation, or similar evidence presented to the court.

The section carves out a provocation defense: if the barking complaint stems from another animal or a nearby pedestrian provoking the dog, the owner can exclude that time from the aggregate only by documenting that the provocation existed and could not be avoided, and by taking remedial steps within three months of the complaint to change the dog's environment and abate the nuisance. Once an Animal Control Deputy evaluates a complaint and forms the opinion that a dog is creating a nuisance by barking or howling incessantly or continuously, the deputy issues the owner a citation.

19(d)(4)B makes personal appearance before the court mandatory, meaning the owner cannot resolve the citation by mail or online payment alone. 09, Annoying Dog Prohibited, which more generally bars keeping a dog that causes annoyance by frequent barking, howling or yelping without specifying any time threshold.