Atlanta Animal Nuisance Ordinance Means Bad News for Barkers

If you’ve got a barking pup who yells at everything including his own shadow, it might be time to break those habits. Atlanta’s Animal Nuisance law now dictates that if an animal is making sounds common to the species (be it barking, meowing, whining, etc…) for more than 10 continuous minutes, they’re officially a nuisance. This ordinance was a change to the original 20 minute noise time that was in the law. 

If you are a business or neighbor within a thousand yards of the animal, you can file a complaint. Or on the other hand, if your animal is feeling noisy, your wallet might be feeling a citation or fine. 

The law outlines that “it shall be unlawful for the owner, or any person having temporary custody or control of an animal to allow or fail to restrain the animal(s) from barking, meowing, whining, crowing, or making other sounds common to the species, persistently or continuously for a period of ten (10) minutes or longer when every animal is not contained within an enclosure sufficient to baffle loud noises and render them reasonably unobjectionable”. 

The Nuisance law even dictates that “for the purposes of this Section, persistently or continuously shall mean nonstop utterances for ten (10) consecutive minutes with individual interruptions of less than twenty seconds at a time during the ten minute utterances.” 

This new ordinance was passed by the Atlanta City Council and put forth by Council Member Dustin Hills. While the first violation results in a fine of about $150, but if the noise continues, locals could be facing fines up to a thousand dollars. 

SOURCE: City of Atlanta Ordinance