Fort Wayne, IN Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Fort Wayne Code of Ordinances § 91.077 places the duty on people, not on the dog. The section applies to the "owner or harborer" of a dog, so it reaches the person who owns the animal and also a person who harbors it without owning it. Either one violates the section by allowing the dog to create a disturbance.

The section names the sounds it covers: barking, yelping, whining and howling. It also requires that the noise be continuous and that it create a disturbance. Those qualifiers matter. A dog that barks briefly and then stops is not making continuous noise, and the ordinance targets continuous noise that rises to a disturbance, not isolated sound. The quoted section does not set a decibel reading or particular hours of the day. The question in Fort Wayne is whether the dog's noise was continuous and whether it created a disturbance.

Enforcement belongs to the animal control officer, which in Fort Wayne means Animal Care & Control. The section authorizes the officer to take immediate action to cause the noise to be abated, so the officer can act at the time of the disturbance. The section gives a choice between a citation and impoundment, but impoundment carries a condition. The dog may be impounded if no owner, harborer, or agent can be located at the time of the disturbance. When a responsible person is present and can be located, the section points to the citation.

The mention of an agent widens the group of people who can answer for the dog at the scene. If the owner is away but someone acting for the owner can be located when the officer responds, the condition for on-the-spot impoundment is not met. A dog left howling at a Fort Wayne property with nobody reachable is the situation the impoundment power is written for.