Lower Merion, PA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Chapter 111, Peace and Good Order, first defines disorderly conduct in general terms in § 111-6: any unnecessary noise, clamor, din or other sound tending to disturb the peace and quiet of the community, and any business, trade or amusement activity carried on at a time or in a manner causing unnecessary noise, is prohibited, even if the sound is no louder than usual, when it occurs on Sunday or outside the customary hours for that activity. Section 111-7 then lists specific acts that are 'hereby declared to constitute disorderly conduct' without limiting that general definition, and Subsection B names animal noise directly: keeping dogs, chickens or other animals under conditions where their barking, crowing or other noise disturbs the peace and quiet of the immediate neighborhood.

Unlike the numeric decibel limits in Chapter 105, Noise and Exterior Lighting, this provision carries no measured threshold; it turns on whether the animal noise actually disturbs the immediate neighborhood's peace and quiet, a fact question the Lower Merion Police Department or a District Justice resolves on the specific complaint. Other clauses in the same list give the barking-dog provision context: Subsection E covers discharging firearms across streets and cross-references Chapter 151, Weapons, and an editor's note to § 111-6 ties the chapter back to Chapter 105 for the more technical noise-measurement rules, meaning a barking-dog complaint can be pursued either as disorderly conduct under § 111-7B or, where the noise is continuous and measurable, as excessive noise under Chapter 105.