Santa Barbara, CA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

The City of Santa Barbara regulates barking dogs and animal noise directly in SBMC Section 9.16.030(A)(3) (Specific Conduct Prohibited) — a city ordinance, not Santa Barbara County's animal-noise rule, which applies only in unincorporated areas. The provision makes it unlawful for any person to keep, maintain, possess or harbor any animal or bird 'which frequently or for long duration, howls, barks, meows, squawks or makes other sounds which create a noise disturbance audible by a person of ordinary sensitivity across a residential or commercial real property line.' Unlike the device and loudspeaker rules in the same section, the animal-noise prohibition is not limited to nighttime hours — it turns on whether the barking or other animal noise is frequent or long in duration and crosses a property line as a disturbance. This sits alongside the general standards in Section 9.16.020 (no noise plainly audible 50 feet from the source) and Section 9.16.010 (no unnecessary, physically annoying noise), and officers consider the same factors — volume, continuousness, time of day, proximity to sleeping areas and whether prior warnings were given. Complaints about a barking dog are handled by the City; animal-control matters in the area are administered through Santa Barbara County Animal Services, but the noise prohibition itself is City code.