Union, NY Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 71-5(B) of the Town of Union Code makes it unlawful for any dog owner in the Town to permit or allow a dog to be a public nuisance. The section declares that any dog which engages in loud howling, barking, crying or whining so as to unreasonably annoy any person is a public nuisance, and it makes it unlawful for any person to own or possess a dog that meets that definition. The test is whether the noise unreasonably annoys any person. Section 71-5(B) prints no decibel level, no minutes-of-barking threshold and no quiet hours. Article I states in § 71-1 that it protects inhabitants of the Town of Union, including the Villages of Johnson City and Endicott.

The article has one noise exemption. Under § 71-5.1, dogs participating in training at a Town-approved dog training facility are exempt from the nuisance rule between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Other nearby rules also reach barking behavior: § 71-5(E) prohibits letting a dog habitually chase, run alongside of or bark at motor vehicles, motorcycles or bicycles on a public street, highway or place, and § 71-5(G) prohibits a nuisance on the owner's own property that can reasonably be expected to create odors, insects or other health matters affecting adjoining property owners.

The Dog Control Officer, Deputy Dog Control Officers, Town of Union Park Rangers and peace officers issue appearance tickets when they have reasonable cause to believe the article was violated (§ 71-8). Any person who observes a dog in violation can file a complaint under oath with a Town Justice stating the violation, the date, a description of the dog and the owner's name and residence if known (§ 71-9). Cats and other domestic animals are covered separately by § 71-13(A), which reaches habitual loud howling, barking, crying or whining only in the Town of Union outside the two villages, and § 71-14 sets its penalty.