De Pere, WI Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 78-1(3)l lists 'the keeping or harboring of any animal or fowl which by frequent or habitual howling, yelping, barking, crowing or making of other noises shall greatly annoy or disturb a neighborhood or any considerable number of persons within the city' among the acts the city classifies as a public nuisance affecting peace and safety. The rule covers any animal or fowl, not just dogs, and the test is neighborhood-wide annoyance rather than a decibel reading.

Enforcement runs through the general nuisance-abatement procedure in section 78-2. When a resident complains, the director of public works, street superintendent, chief of police, health officer, sanitarian, city forester or building inspector, whichever officer is appropriate, must inspect the property and file a written report, with photographs where practicable. If the officer finds a great and immediate danger to public health, safety, peace, morals, decency, comfort or repose, the chief of police can serve the owner or occupant with a 24-hour notice to abate; if the deadline is missed, the city can abate the nuisance itself and bill the cost as a special tax against the property under section 78-3. Where the barking does not rise to that immediate-danger threshold, the inspecting officer instead forwards findings to the city attorney to pursue abatement in Brown County Circuit Court under Wisconsin Statutes chapter 823.

Because chapter 78 sets no dedicated fine for this nuisance, the citywide default penalty in section 1-11 applies: a forfeiture of not less than $1.00 nor more than $2,000.00 for a first offense, rising to $10.00 to $2,000.00 for a repeat conviction, with each day of continuing violation counted as a separate offense.