A. It is unlawful and declared to be a public nuisance for the owner of a dog or other animal to allow it to make loud or disturbing noises without provocation, including, but not limited to, excessive barking, howling, whining, or making any other noise that reasonably disturbs the comfort, quiet, or use of neighboring property, provided that the owner of the animal has been made aware of the disturbance.
B. Violations of this ordinance shall be enforced as follows:
1. The designated animal control officer or other city official or employee, referred to herein as "enforcement officer" may issue a criminal infraction, administrative citation or administrative enforcement order pursuant to the municipal code, or commence any other type of injunctive relief authorized by law if the enforcement officer has determined that a violation of this ordinance has occurred after an investigation. The owner of the animal may appeal any violation by any means permitted by applicable law, such as requesting an administrative appeal hearing if the enforcement officer issued an administrative citation.
2. The following rules shall apply to complaints of excessive noise by animals:
a. Evidence of a violation includes, but is not limited to, personal observations of the enforcement officer, statements of witnesses, recordings of the noise, and admissions by the owner of the animal.
b. The enforcement officer has the discretion to issue a warning in instances where the enforcement officer has determined that a violation is unlikely to occur again, or the owner of the animal has agreed to take steps to mitigate future incidents of loud or excessive noise.
c. Animal Services may suspend the applicable penalty for violation when the owner of the animal, in a written agreement of the city, takes steps to mitigate violations and the owner agrees to prevent additional complaints for specified periods. Any suspension of a penalty shall be in writing and the penalty shall be reinstated if the mitigation steps are not successful.
(Ord. 2019-09, § 2, 2019; prior code § 4591)