National City, CA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 8.16.050 sets the barking standard in numbers. Between ten pm and seven am daily, a dog that howls, barks or makes other sounds characteristic of its species and creates a noise disturbance across a residential or commercial property line, or within a noise sensitive zone, violates the ordinance after more than three minutes. At other times the trigger is more than ten consecutive minutes, or a total of more than fifteen minutes within any sixty minute period. The section also declares any such disturbance a public nuisance.

The complaint process is strict. A police officer or animal control officer is not required to act on an anonymous complaint or any other barking complaint unless the complainant first certifies the facts in a written declaration under penalty of perjury. Subsection D lists what has to be shown: at least one reasonable verbal or written request to the owner to stop the barking, that the dog can be heard audibly from an adjoining public right-of-way or outside a building on an immediately contiguous property, that the dog was not defending its property against a trespasser or provoked by anyone but its owner, and the identity of other witnesses or complainants. A lawful passerby on a public street or sidewalk is not a source of provocation. At a first complaint the complainant is told to keep a log of dates and times, duration, address and any contributing factors. It is no defense that no one was home if the dog was left outdoors.

Neighbors also have an abatement route under § 8.16.055. The complainant deposits one hundred dollars with the city and files a written declaration, and the city sets a hearing no sooner than five days and no more than ten days after the notice is mailed. If the hearing examiner finds a public nuisance, the owner must keep the dog indoors except when supervised and must attach an activated anti-barking collar worn at all times. The owner can instead elect to build a sound proofed enclosure, have the dog's vocal cords surgically altered by a licensed veterinarian, or place the dog for adoption. If those measures fail, the owner receives a second written notice and a period not to exceed fifteen days.