Manteca, CA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

The rule sits in Chapter 6.08 (Dogs) of the Manteca Municipal Code, not in the noise chapter. Section 6.08.050, titled Barking, Nuisance, has two sentences. The first defines the nuisance: a dog which continually and habitually barks, whines, or howls to the discomfort and inconvenience of other citizens. The second makes the ownership itself the offense: it is unlawful for any person to own or possess a dog which is a public nuisance. Howling and whining count alongside barking, and the section reaches the person who owns or possesses the dog, so a tenant or a caretaker is covered as much as the title holder.

The section prints no measurable trigger. It has no decibel limit, no minutes-per-hour threshold, no nighttime window, and no minimum number of complainants. The words continually and habitually set the bar, and the discomfort and inconvenience of other citizens is the harm measured. The section carries only a 'Prior code § 3-16' history note and no later amendment.

Two other provisions supply the machinery around it. Section 6.04.060 in Chapter 6.04 declares that any violation of Title 6 is a public nuisance and that, upon direction of the city council, the city attorney shall take action to abate the nuisance. Section 9.52.100(C), in the city's noise chapter, declares persistent animal noise in violation of Chapter 9.52 a public nuisance that is subject to abatement summarily by a restraining order or injunction issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. Section 9.52.090 in the same chapter lets the city manager seek voluntary compliance by warning, notice, or informational materials before anything harsher.

Because the city attorney acts only on council direction under § 6.04.060, a repeat barking problem is a matter for the city's enforcement officials and, in the end, the courts, not a private right written into the code.