Fauquier County, VA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 13.5-3(b) targets animal noise specifically: owning, keeping, possessing or harboring an animal whose sound is plainly audible for more than five consecutive minutes without a break of more than thirty seconds, or that measures over 65 dBA for a fifteen-second interval at least once a minute for five consecutive minutes at the property line, is a violation. The section adds a stricter automatic rule for tethered dogs: a canine or canine crossbreed left outside a fully enclosed structure, without the owner or another capable adult present, confined by a chain or tether to a trolley system, ground stake or other fixed object, that barks or makes other noise plainly audible for more than one minute, is deemed in violation regardless of the general five-minute test.

The section carves out a defense: it is not a violation if the animal was responding to pain, injury, or was protecting itself, its kennel, its offspring or a person at the time. Animal shelters and kennels that existed before September 8, 2016 are exempt from the whole noise chapter under § 13.5-4(a)(1), and dogs working or training for an agricultural activity on agriculturally zoned land are exempt under § 13.5-4(a)(3). A violation carries the chapter's standard $250 first-offense civil penalty, rising to $500 for later offenses, and the county may enforce through the Sheriff, a deputy, or an animal control officer, or a citizen may seek a magistrate's summons directly.