Dearborn, MI Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

clock that governs radios, loudspeakers, loading and domestic power tools in §§ 13-45(1), (2), (4) and (7). A dog, cat or bird that frequently barks, howls, meows or squawks, or does so for a long duration, violates the section any time of day if the sound creates a noise disturbance across a residential or commercial real property line; the owner or harborer of the animal is the responsible party. The standard tracks the article's general prohibition in § 13-43 against 'unreasonably loud, disturbing, unusual or unnecessary noise,' and, like the device provisions, it is judged by disturbance at the property line rather than a decibel-meter reading.

This is a separate track from the animal-control chapter: Chapter 4's dangerous-dog and biting-dog provisions address bite risk and vicious-dog determinations, while § 13-45(3) addresses only the noise itself, regardless of whether the animal has any history of aggression. None of the article's standard exemptions in § 13-46, emergency alerts, permitted events, permitted construction, apply to ordinary animal noise. A resident who wants relief files a noise complaint with the Dearborn Police Department, which enforces Article II of Chapter 13 and can cite the animal's owner directly under the same fine ladder that governs every other Article II violation.