A. Nuisance Declared: No dog owner shall allow his dog to emit excessive noises, day or night, so as to disturb the peace or quiet of any person in any incorporated or unincorporated area of the County while said dog is not within the confines of the dog owner's residence or other enclosed building upon the owner's property. Any dog emitting such noises shall be deemed and considered to be a public nuisance. Any dog owner who fails, neglects or refuses to abate such nuisance after written notice thereof shall be deemed to have committed a separate violation of this section for each twenty four (24) hour period that the nuisance continues.
For purposes of this section, the term "excessive noises" mean any continued, repeated or habitual barking, whining, crying, howling, whimpering, crowing, or loud noise common to an animal's species that exceeds ten consecutive minutes in duration or occurs intermittently for a significant portion of the day or night, that is louder than average conversational level at a distance of one hundred (100) feet or more.
B. Notice Requirements; Abatement Required: Any County law enforcement officer or designated deputy enforcing officer, upon observing any violation of this section, shall issue a written notice directed to the dog owner, which said notice shall describe the violation and shall establish a reasonable time limit for the abatement thereof by such owner, which time shall be not less than one day nor more than ten (10) days after service of such notice.
C. Investigation: Upon the termination of the time allowed for the abatement of such nuisance, the law enforcement officer or deputy enforcing officer who served such notice shall investigate whether the nuisance has been abated.
D. Complaint Filed: In the event the dog owner has failed to abate such nuisance within the time prescribed, a complaint may be filed with the Circuit Court charging a violation of this section.
E. Penalties: Any person found guilty of violating subsection A of this section as a first offense shall be fined not less than sixty dollars ($60.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), plus court costs. Any person convicted of violating subsection A of this section as a second offense shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), plus court costs. Any person found guilty of violating subsection A of this section as a third or subsequent offense shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars ($200.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), plus court costs. (Ord., 7-11-2006; amd. 2009 Code; Ord. 2018-5, 4-9-2018, eff. 6-1-2018; Ord. 2023-1, 3-14-2023)