Greenwood, IN Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 6-17, part of the Animal Regulations article, targets any animal, not only dogs, whose frequent or habitual howling, yelping, barking, screeching, other vocalization, or otherwise causes serious annoyance or disturbance to persons in the vicinity. The standard is annoyance to people nearby, not a specific decibel level or time-of-day window, so an owner can be cited for daytime or nighttime noise alike once it rises to a serious disturbance. Liability rests with the person who owns or keeps the animal, defined elsewhere in the Article as anyone who keeps, harbors, or has custody, charge, or control of it, so a tenant or house-sitter can be responsible along with a titled owner.

Penalties are graduated: a first violation within any twelve-month period is resolved through an admission of violation and payment of a $50.00 designated civil penalty, while every subsequent violation within that same twelve-month period carries a fine of not less than $100.00 each. The section sits alongside companion animal-nuisance rules in the same Article, including § 6-14's escalating fines for animals at large and § 6-16's duty to report a vehicle collision with a domestic animal, all enforced under the City's animal ordinance rather than the general Code penalty in § 1-13. Complaints are handled through the City's animal control process under agreement with Johnson County Animal Control.