Texas City, TX Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 95.025 of the Texas City Code of Ordinances reaches any person who harbors or keeps on his or her premises, or in or about premises under his or her control, any dog which, by loud or unusual barking or howling, causes or is reasonably liable to cause the peace and quiet of the neighborhood or the occupants of adjacent premises to be disturbed. The City Commission wrote it for Texas City in Galveston County as a criminal offense: the person is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Three features shape how it works. First, it targets the person, not the dog. The words harbor or keep, together with premises under his or her control, cover an owner, a tenant and anyone else in charge of the place where the dog lives. Second, the standard is disturbance, not a measurement. The section prints no decibel reading, no quiet hours and no count of minutes. What matters is that the barking or howling is loud or unusual and that it causes, or is reasonably liable to cause, the peace and quiet of the neighborhood or of the occupants of adjacent premises to be disturbed. Third, the phrase reasonably liable to cause means the offense does not depend on proof that a particular neighbor lost sleep.

The rule sits in the Dogs and Cats subchapter of Chapter 95, Animals, beside the at-large ban in § 95.023, the four-dog cap in § 95.027 and the tethering and enclosure rules in § 95.028. The chapter's table of contents carries a cross-reference to the noise regulations in § 94.009 of the health and sanitation chapter. Section 95.003 also makes the County Health District's rules, regulations and policies on animal control apply in addition to the city code and state law. Penalties follow § 95.999(A), which sends chapter violations without a specific penalty to § 10.99, so the offense is prosecuted as a misdemeanor with the fine ceilings printed there.