Mebane, NC Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Mebane City Code Sec. 4-75 makes it unlawful for the keeper or other custodian of any dog to allow it to bark, whine, howl or make any other noise for a protracted period so as to result in a serious annoyance or interference with the reasonable use and enjoyment of neighboring premises. The standard turns on duration and impact rather than decibels: an isolated bark is not covered, but a protracted pattern that disrupts a neighbor's reasonable enjoyment of their property is. Enforcement runs through the animal control officer, defined in Sec.

4-71 as a person employed by the chief of police to pick up, restrain or impound animals and to discharge other duties pertaining to animals prescribed by ordinance, state law, or lawful order of a county official who supervises animal control officers. The section cross-references the city's separate noise chapter at Sec. 14-121 et seq., so a chronic barking-dog complaint can also be evaluated against Mebane's general noise standards. Because Sec. 4-75 sits within Article III, Division 1 of Chapter 4, the animal control article's general penalty and enforcement provisions in Sec. 4-72 govern how a noisy-dog complaint is prosecuted once it is substantiated.