On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, the Delaware House of Representatives passed legislation to regulate barking dogs in the state.
The bill now moves to the Senate where it has been assigned to the Senate Elections and Government Affairs Committee.
As mentioned in a previous alert, House Bill 124 will prohibit dogs from barking continuously for more than 15 minutes, or more than 30 minutes total in a day. The bill does include exemptions if the dog is barking because a person trespassing or threatening to trespass upon private property; an animal intruding upon private property where the dog is located; or the dog is being teased or provoked. AKC was able to get exemptions added for dogs training, exhibitions, lawful performance competitions, hunting, and herding.
Even with the exemptions, the bill continues to ignore the fact that dogs bark for many reasons not covered by the bill. Further, AKC believes this issue is nuisance issue which is best left up to individual jurisdictions to decide what, if any, law relative to barking dogs is needed for their community and how it should be enforced. We continue to express our believe that this bill seeks to make barking dogs, a nuisance issue best handled locally, a state matter and does little to protect dogs.
What you can do:
Contact the member of Senate Elections and Government Affairs Committee – (click on members’ names for contact information) and ask that that they oppose the bill and it should not be advanced to the full Senate. Respectfully let them know that you agree no one should be subjected to extended periods of continuous barking; however, this legislation does not protect dogs nor their responsible owners.
AKC Government Relations continues to monitor legislation in Delaware impacting dog owners. For questions or more information, contact AKC GR at doglaw@akc.org.