Haverford, PA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Article III of Chapter 49 (Noise Nuisance) of the Haverford Township Code deals with barking dogs and other noisy animals. Section 49-6 records the Board of Commissioners' finding that excessive levels of sound are detrimental to the physical, mental and social well-being of residents and are a public health and welfare hazard, and it names the target directly: barking, yelping, howling or causing any other unseemly noise for extended periods of time, whether the animal is confined inside a residence or to the outside area. Being indoors is therefore no defense.

Section 49-7 contains two separate prohibitions. The first makes it unlawful for any owner, custodian or keeper to permit the animal to make excessive noise to the disturbance, annoyance, or fright of persons in the vicinity. The second makes it unlawful to keep an animal that exhibits a habit or pattern of making excessive noise. The second clause lets enforcement rest on a recurring pattern rather than a single episode. The provision covers dogs, cats, feral cats, birds and other animals, and under § 49-1 a person who harbors an animal is treated as its owner, so feeding or sheltering a barking animal creates responsibility.

The text uses the standard of excessive noise to the disturbance, annoyance or fright of persons in the vicinity. It prints no decibel reading and no quiet hours. Related provisions in the same chapter apply the standard elsewhere: backyard chickens kept under § 49-10(C) must produce no perceptible noise at the property boundary beyond what Article III allows, and § 49-7.1 bars an animal repellent device from being placed within 25 feet of any property line or directed at a neighbor's property.

The Animal Control Officer, supervised by the Haverford Township Police Department under § 49-2, enforces the chapter, and interfering with the officer is a separate violation.