Medford, MA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 6-46 makes it a violation for anyone owning, keeping, or otherwise responsible for a dog to allow the dog to annoy a neighbor's reasonable right to peace or privacy through loud or continuous noise. The ordinance gives two independent tests, either of which alone establishes prima facie evidence of a violation: the noise is plainly audible at a neighboring residence, from the building, premises, vehicle, or conveyance housing the dog, or the noise continues for more than ten minutes. Neither test requires proof of harm beyond the audibility or duration itself, so a complaining neighbor's testimony that the barking carried to their residence, or lasted past the ten-minute mark, is enough to make out a case under the section.

The barking-dog rule sits in Article II, Division 1 of Chapter 6, alongside the leash and rabies-vaccination requirements, and Sec. 6-43 gives any animal control officer police power to enforce that whole article, while barring anyone from interfering with, hindering, molesting or abusing an officer doing so. Sec. 6-47 sets out the graduated penalty for repeated Sec. 6-46 violations, escalating from a written warning to fixed dollar fines for later offenses within the same article.