Middleton, WI Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

05(2), 'Prohibition of Noises Disturbing the Peace,' opens by stating that no person, and no person, firm or corporation occupying or having charge of a building or premises, may engage in the listed noise offenses within the City. Subsection (c) applies that framework specifically to animals: it is unlawful to keep, or allow to be kept, any animal or bird that habitually disturbs, by noise, the peace and quiet of any person in the vicinity, unreasonably. The habitual standard means an isolated bout of barking is not enough; the ordinance targets recurring disturbances, mirroring the general 'unreasonably disturb the peace and quiet' language used elsewhere in the section for mechanical and amplified noise.

Because the provision covers birds as well as dogs, it also reaches, for example, a chronically noisy rooster or other animal kept outdoors. 05(2): an officer responding to a complaint evaluates whether the animal's noise is habitual and unreasonably disturbing to neighbors before issuing a citation, since the Code does not set a fixed decibel level or number of barking incidents that automatically triggers a violation.