Tallahassee, FL Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 4-10(a) defines a nuisance as an animal's actions that unreasonably annoy humans, endanger other animals or people, or interfere with a citizen's use and enjoyment of property. Section 4-10(b)(1) lists habitual barking, whining, howling, crowing or cackling that is excessive, continuous or untimely, and results in serious annoyance to neighboring premises, as an example of that nuisance, alongside property damage, animals running at large, and odor or vermin nuisances in the rest of subsection (b). A citation can issue in one of three ways under Section 4-10(d): affidavits of complaint signed by two or more residents at different addresses near the animal, describing the acts, dates and animal; an animal control or law enforcement officer's own observation; or information gathered during a related investigation.

Section 4-10(e) lays out a graduated abatement process. On a first violation, the investigating officer can give the owner written notice that the barking is a nuisance and that the owner must make reasonable efforts to stop it before a citation issues. Two citations for the same premises within 12 months lets the city attorney seek a court injunction, and a third citation within that window is presumptive evidence of a public nuisance, though a judge can find a nuisance without it. A judge granting the injunction can order whatever abates the specific nuisance, including removing the barking animal from the property entirely.