Modoc County, CA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Title 6 (Animals), Chapter 6.02 (Dog Control), of the Modoc County Code focuses on licensing, rabies control, and potentially dangerous and vicious dogs (Sections 6.02.103 through 6.02.108, derived from Ord. 295-B, 2005). A keyword search of the full code returned no results for 'bark,' confirming there is no provision setting a number of minutes of barking, no nighttime barking curfew, and no decibel limit for animal noise in the unincorporated county. Penalties in Chapter 6.02 are reserved for dangerous-dog violations (up to $500 for a potentially dangerous dog and up to $1,000 for a vicious dog under Section 6.02.108), not nuisance barking. A chronically barking or howling dog is therefore handled through the general public-nuisance process in Chapter 8.20 (Ord. No. 308-B, 2017), which can abate any condition declared a nuisance, and under the state's animal-control framework in the California Food and Agricultural Code (Division 14, Sections 30501 et seq.), which counties administer through animal control. Acute disturbances may also fall under Penal Code Section 415. Complaints generally go to the Modoc County Sheriff or animal control. Because the county is rural and agricultural, working and livestock-guardian dogs are common, and the Right-to-Farm chapter (8.28) shields accepted agricultural operations from nuisance claims.