Walla Walla County, WA Noise Ordinances: Barking Dogs (2026)

Section 9.20.050 bans 'public disturbance noises,' and Subsection F applies that ban to animals: 'the frequent, repetitive or continuous sounds caused by the vocal emanations of any animal kept on the property of the sound source which continue for periods in excess of ten minutes between the hours of ten p.m. and five a.m., or which continue for periods in excess of twenty minutes between the hours of five a.m. and ten p.m.' The rule is duration-based rather than decibel-based: a dog that barks intermittently for a few minutes is not a violation, but continuous or repetitive barking past the ten- or twenty-minute threshold is.

Liability under the section's opening sentence falls on 'any person in possession of property' who allows the noise to originate there, so an owner can be cited even while away, if the animal is kept on their property. This barking-dog rule sits inside the noise chapter, separate from the county's animal-control code in Title 6, Chapter 6.04, which addresses licensing, at-large animals and dangerous-dog declarations but not noise duration. The Sheriff's Office enforces under § 9.20.090, and a substantiated complaint is a civil infraction under § 9.20.100, carrying a monetary penalty up to $500 per separate infraction, cumulative with any other remedy under § 9.20.110.

As with the rest of Chapter 9.20, the rule reaches only unincorporated land such as Burbank, Touchet and Dixie, not the cities of Walla Walla, College Place, Waitsburg or Prescott.