Call 911 to report animal abuse in progress.
Need something else?
- Animal Abuse to report chronic or ongoing animal abuse, neglect, or mistreatment for non-emergency response
- Abandoned Pet to report a pet that has been purposely abandoned by its owners
You can report noise from a barking dog or other domestic animal. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) can only respond to complaints of animal noise in an attempt to enforce the NYC Noise Code.
DEP may take enforcement action if the noise can easily be heard from a residential address:
- For 10 minutes straight between the times 7:00 AM and 10:00 PM or
- For 5 minutes straight between the times 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM
What You Need
For DEP to respond to your noise complaint, you must provide the address where the animal is barking and your mailing address. Your information will not be shared with the animal's owner.
If you are complaining about barking noise, DEP will send a letter about the noise to the dog's owner within 7 days of getting your complaint. The letter will include information explaining how to curb the dog's noise. If a letter is sent to the dog's owner, DEP will also send you a letter with instructions about how to follow up if the animal continues to be noisy.
If DEP has already sent letters to the dog's owner, or if your complaint is regarding noise from a domestic animal other than a dog, they may do a noise inspection.
What Happens Next
If a violation of the NYC Noise Code is witnessed by DEP during their inspection, a summons may be issued.
Warning Letter
If you’re a pet owner and you receive a warning letter from DEP, you can send questions, comments, or disputes to the mailing address provided in the letter or send an email to dogbarking@dep.nyc.gov.
