Hutto, TX Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 14.03.003 of the Code of Ordinances enumerates specific nuisances under Hutto's noise article, and subsection (4), "Animals and birds," targets the keeping of any animal or bird which, by causing frequent or long-continued noise, disturbs the comfort and repose of any person of ordinary sensibilities in the immediate vicinity. Unlike the numeric decibel test in section 14.03.001, this provision does not require a specific dBA reading; the standard is frequency and duration of the disturbance judged against an "ordinary sensibilities" benchmark, the same standard section 14.03.002 uses for its general nuisance declaration.

That general nuisance clause independently covers any noise, from a dog or otherwise, that causes material distress or interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of a home, giving the police department two overlapping paths to cite a chronic barking complaint. Because Article 14.03 is enumerated as nonexclusive, per the opening clause of section 14.03.003, an officer is not limited to the animals-and-birds category if the same dog's noise also functions as a general nuisance under section 14.03.002. As with every Article 14.03 offense, violating the barking dog provision is a Class C misdemeanor under section 14.03.007, fined under the citywide general penalty in section 1.01.009, and each day the disturbance continues is chargeable as a separate offense.

The article's special exception process in section 14.03.004 is built for scheduled events and hardship noise sources, not ongoing animal complaints, so there is no permit route to excuse a persistently barking dog.