City Updates Nuisance Dog Barking, Leash Code: What To Know

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Laguna Beach City council members voted to streamline the city's municipal code to make sure that rules on nuisance dog barking are enforceable during Tuesday's council meeting.

The move comes after officials said past citations and fines regarding nuisance dogs lacked specificity and were undefined and subjective.

“It was based on how many people were complaining or willing to appear before a hearing officer to testify and provide evidence that a dog, at a certain location, is a nuisance,” Laguna Beach Police Department administrator Jim Beres said in the meeting. “That creates a different standard because what constitutes a nuisance in North Laguna might be different than in South Laguna. That’s what some people we’ve interacted with in the past have had some issue with.”

“It’s like having a speed limit with no defined speed limit,” he said.

The new ordinance, which goes into effect in 30 days, makes it so a nuisance report can be made if a dog barks non-stop for 30 minutes — or if it barks intermittently for 60 minutes — over a 24-hour period.

The ordinance change also addresses the definition of what constitutes a "dangerous and vicious dog" and adds rules that make it illegal to tie a dog to a bicycle, e-bike or other moving vehicle for a "walk."