Putnam County, FL Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Putnam County Code Section 6-19 defines "nuisance" broadly as animal conduct or behavior causing an unreasonable disturbance to the peace, including, among other things, damaging public or private property or habitually chasing people, cars or bicycles; a chronically noisy dog falls within this disturbance-of-the-peace language even though the code does not use the word "barking." "Habitual nuisance" is defined separately as an animal that becomes a nuisance more than three times. Section 6-34(a) makes it unlawful for any person to let an animal under their control become a nuisance as defined in the ordinance, and Section 6-34(b) directs that an owner whose animal is a habitual nuisance be sent to a hearing before the special magistrate rather than handled informally.

Before a citation issues, Section 6-34(c) requires that either the citing animal control officer or law enforcement officer personally witnessed the habitual nuisance, or that the officer received a sworn affidavit from each of at least two unrelated adult witnesses living in different residences, so a single neighbor's complaint about barking is not enough on its own. The department head can issue a warning, proceed to a special magistrate hearing under Section 11.06 of the Land Development Code, or impound the animal under the general enforcement powers in Section 6-40. There is no separate decibel-based standard for animal noise; Chapter 18's amplified-sound rules regulate mechanical and electronic sound sources and do not reference animals.