Lacey, WA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

The City of Lacey regulates animal noise through the definition of a nuisance pet animal in section 7.04.030(V) of the Lacey Municipal Code. That definition has seven parts, and item 6 covers a pet animal that habitually or continually disturbs the peace and quiet of any individual or neighborhood by barking, whining, howling or making any other noise. The standard is habit and disturbance. The definition prints no decibel reading, no clock hours and no count of minutes, so the question for an Animal Services officer is whether the noise is habitual or continual and whether it disturbs a person or a neighborhood.

Section 7.04.050 makes the person who harbors, keeps, possesses, maintains or has temporary custody of the animal responsible for its behavior whether or not that person knowingly permits it. Subsection B then makes nuisance pet animal a civil infraction. Section 7.04.050(B) cites the definition as LMC 7.04.030(T), but in the exported code the nuisance pet animal definition prints as subsection V. The other items in that definition cover damage to landscaping or property, soiling another person's property, unsanitary or offensive conditions, a female dog or cat in heat not confined within a structure, chasing people or vehicles, and trespass backed by a written complaint to Animal Services.

Barking can also feed a menacing finding. Section 7.04.030(T) defines menacing as threatening behavior on property that is not the owner's, including growling, snarling, barking and snapping of teeth, that reasonably places a person in fear of immediate physical harm. Under section 7.04.080(G), keeping or harboring a menacing animal off premises is a Class 3 civil infraction, and a second or subsequent infraction within eighteen months is a Class 2. Enforcement belongs to the Animal Services Director, designees and officers named in section 7.04.020, and civil infractions are heard under Chapter 7.80 RCW.