Smyrna, TN Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

The rule is § 10-205 of the Smyrna Municipal Code, Title 10, Chapter 2. It says no person shall own, keep, or harbor any dog or cat which, by loud and frequent barking, whining, or howling, disturbs the peace and quiet of any neighborhood. Two things must go together: the noise must be both loud and frequent, and the effect must be a disturbance of a neighborhood's peace and quiet. The section prints no decibel limit, no number of minutes, and no quiet hours, so the standard is the disturbance itself. It reaches the person who owns, keeps, or harbors the animal, which covers a tenant or caretaker as well as the titled owner.

A second provision applies to livestock and fowl. Section 10-105 in Chapter 1 says no animal or fowl shall be kept in such a place or condition as to become a nuisance either because of noise, odor, contagious disease, or other reason. Title 11, Chapter 4 also opens with a general anti-noise rule in § 11-401, which prohibits the creating of any unreasonably loud, disturbing, and unnecessary noise, and § 11-402 sends violations of that chapter to the general penalty provision, with each day an offense occurs a separate violation.

Enforcement runs through the Town of Smyrna's animal control officer, the police department, and code enforcement. A dog that also runs loose faces the at-large ban in § 10-203 and impoundment under § 10-207, where a tagged dog must be redeemed within five days and an untagged dog within three days. A neighbor who wants action starts with the police department, which handles animal control for the town.