Animal noise complaints
File an animal noise complaint. Get advice on what to do about excessive animal noise.
Animal noise nuisance
It's perfectly normal and reasonable for pets to make noise from time to time.
While this is expected, excessive animal noise, like ongoing dog barking, can disturb your neighbours.
We encourage pet owners to keep their pet’s noise level in check, so it doesn’t become a nuisance to others.
Noisy domestic animals
Excessive noise from pets can disrupt the daily life of your neighbours.
Under the Animals Local Law 2017 (the Local Law), you must not keep an animal that causes a noise nuisance.
What is considered an animal noise nuisance?
Under the Local Law, animal noise is a nuisance if it:
- is made by a domestic animal including but not limited to livestock, poultry and dogs
- unreasonably disrupts or inhibits a daily activity at neighbouring premises or nearby residential land.
When investigating an animal noise nuisance, Council considers:
- complaints received from other neighbours
- the frequency and intensity of the animal noise
- if the noise is made for more than a total of:
- 6 minutes in any hour between 7am and 10pm on any day
- 3 minutes in a 30-minute period between 10pm and 7am on any day.
Pet owner's responsibilities
If you own a pet, it’s up to you to ensure that it doesn’t disturb the community.
Your responsibilities as a pet owner include making sure they're healthy and safely secured. It's best to deal with behavioural issues before they start bothering other people.
Open communication with your neighbours will also help maintain a peaceful and friendly community.
Handling an animal noise complaint
Receiving a noise complaint about your pet can be confronting. You may not even be aware that your pet is making excessive noise. Likewise, your neighbours may be uncomfortable about raising the issue with you.
Understanding your pet’s triggers
Correcting excessive animal noise is not a quick fix. The first step is to understand what triggers the animal’s behaviour.
Common animal noise triggers include:
- lack of stimulation
- overstimulation
- excessive energy
- separation anxiety
- health issues.
All types of animals are covered by the Local Law requirements. It’s important that you research the noise your animal makes because triggers will vary.
Barking is natural dog behaviour.
Dog barking triggers include:
- boredom
- excitement
- distress
- territorial defence
- fear
- anxiety.
Research your bird breed to understand triggers for noise and find solutions.
For example, chickens usually cluck at sunrise. Make their environment darker so they stay quiet until a more reasonable time in the morning.
Identify noise triggers, such as housing, boredom, happiness and social behaviour.
If possible, move animal pens further away from your neighbour’s property to minimise the impact of noise.
Observe your animal to find out what prompts the their disruptive behaviour.
You can do this by adjusting the animal's environment, introducing new toys or activities, or considering reward-based or obedience training.
Talk to a vet or animal trainer for additional solutions and to rule out health concerns.
Explore our fact sheets for handling disruptive animal noise.
What to do if you’re affected by animal noise
Your daily activities should not be disrupted by excessive animal noise.
If the animal noise classifies as a nuisance, it’s best to let the pet owner know about it as soon as possible.
This gives the owner the opportunity to investigate what’s causing the excessive noise and find a practical, long-term solution.
Contacting the pet owners
Pet owners often don’t know that their animals are causing a nuisance. It may be up to you to let them know what’s going on.
Reach out to the pet owner and have a friendly chat about the noise their pet is making and how it’s affecting you.
If you’re uncomfortable with talking to the pet owner in person, use our letter template.
Filing an animal noise complaint
You can file an animal noise complaint:
- by calling Council on 07 3403 8888.
- in writing to:
Brisbane City Council
GPO Box 1434
Brisbane Qld 4001.
You’ll need to provide:
- a description of the animal
- the exact address of the noise source.
If the exact address isn’t provided, we can’t investigate your complaint.
You can also file a barking dog complaint online.
Resolution process and next steps
Noise nuisance diary
After you file an animal noise complaint, we’ll send you an animal noise nuisance diary via mail or email. You don’t need to start filling it out straightaway.
We’ll also contact the pet owner and encourage them to resolve the issue.
If the animal noise stops being a nuisance within 14 days of filing the complaint, you don’t need to fill in the diary.
If the issue hasn’t been resolved after 14 days, complete the diary. The information in the diary will:
- help us understand the patterns of the animal’s behaviour
- be used to help the pet owner resolve the issue.
Our Animal Services team will contact you to talk about the issue.
If we have enough information, we’ll also contact the pet owner to discuss ways to reduce the noise nuisance.
Council’s investigation will determine if there’s a breach under the Local Law.
This process takes time as we work directly with all parties involved. We may visit the complainant’s property to get a better understanding of the issue.
Once an ongoing noise nuisance is confirmed, we:
- consider education options to help the pet owner resolve the issue
- issue a Compliance Notice to the pet owner.
If a pet owner doesn’t take action to fix the issue, they may be issued with an infringement notice.
If the situation doesn’t breach the Local Law, you’ll be notified that Council will not be taking any further action.
Helpful links
Frequently asked questions
Dog barking is considered excessive when it unreasonably disrupts or inhibits a daily activity at neighbouring property or nearby residential land.
When investigating whether excessive dog barking is classified as a noise nuisance and breaches local law, Council considers:
- whether complaints have been received from other neighbours
- the frequency and intensity of the noise
- the time and duration of the noise.
In particular, animal noise is excessive when made for more than a total of:
- 6 minutes in any hour from 7am to 10pm on any day
- 3 minutes in a 30-minute period from 10pm to 7am on any day.
Animal noise complaints are regulated by Council’s Animals Local Law 2017 (the Local Law). The Local Law outlines specific provisions to address excessive noise nuisances caused by animals in residential areas. Please note, this does not include noise made by wildlife.
The aim of the Local Law is to ensure animals are kept in ways that meet community expectations. Council can investigate noise complaints under the Local Law but isn’t authorised to act on animal welfare matters. If you think an animal is making noise because it’s being mistreated or has no food, shade or water, contact RSPCA Queensland.
If you’re dealing with persistent animal noise issues, we offer information on understanding why the animal may be making noise and tips on how to reduce it.
Pet owners who don’t address an animal noise complaint may be issued with a notice to remedy and an infringement notice. If you don’t comply with the notice, Council may take enforcement action in the form of infrindgement notices, prosecution or seisure of animal(s).
For information on fees associated with pet-related infringement notices, visit pay an animal-related fine.