Skokie, IL Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

' The provision applies to any animal or bird kept in the Village, not only dogs, and does not set a specific decibel level, a minimum barking duration, or a fixed distance from which the noise must be audible, unlike the neighboring amplified-sound subsection (5), which uses a 25-foot audibility test. That leaves the question of a violation to the facts of each complaint: whether the animal's noise is frequent enough or continues long enough to disturb the comfort or repose of people in the vicinity, a standard investigating officers and, ultimately, an Administrative Law Officer or judge apply case by case.

Sec. 42-76 supplies the factors relevant to that determination for any noise complaint under the article, including the noise's volume and intensity, whether it is usual or unusual for the area, its proximity to residential sleeping facilities, and the time of day or night it occurs, all of which bear directly on whether a dog's barking pattern crosses the line from ordinary pet behavior into a Sec. 42-78(4) violation. As with every other Article III noise violation, Sec. 42-75 also allows the Village to treat the ongoing noise as a declared public nuisance eligible for the abatement procedures in Secs. 42-36 and 42-37, on top of the noise-specific enforcement path.