The old law says barking in Johnston could mean the death penalty for your dog

Tanya Rocchio was surprised to see a Johnston Animal Control officer pull into her driveway.

Her three dogs — Harper, Reagan and Luciano — were outside. They might have been barking. That’s what healthy, happy dogs tend to do. They bark to communicate.

While Johnston Animal Control only gave Rocchio a warning, she decided to look into the town’s dog barking laws and penalties. She discovered the town technically had the authority to remove and possibly destroy her animals if they barked “excessively.”

Her research scared her into contacting the mayor.

“The one that really concerned me as a dog owner is my dogs being removed from the home,” Rocchio said while standing outside the Johnston Municipal Courthouse following the Tuesday, Aug. 13 Town Council meeting, where an updated “Excessive Dog Barking Ordinance” received its first read. “And then reading it, and saying that they could be destroyed, or … euthanized, was very scary to read. Just because, what is excessive? I don’t know what that is. Anyone from Johnston PD can come and use their discretion and say, ‘Oh that dog’s barking is excessive. We need to take your dog.’”

The old law sent shivers through the lifelong dog-lover.

Rocchio’s dogs are more like family members than pets. The Memorial Avenue resident couldn’t imagine losing them because of an occasional barking annoyance.

“I did reach out to the mayor to express my concerns with the ordinance after looking at it,” she said.

Johnston Mayor Joseph M. Polisena Jr. heard Rocchio’s concerns and agreed.

“So our current dog barking ordinance is vague in the sense of it prohibits ‘excessive barking,’” Polisena explained. “I had a constituent call who said her neighbors were complaining about her dog barking but she thought it was normal barking and more importantly, she saw the prospective penalties of removal or destruction of the dog.”

The original 1979 ordinance called for the town’s police chief, deputy chief or other officer to “investigate any complaint” of “any dog … barking, howling or in any other manner is disturbing the public peace or the quiet of any person, whomsoever…”

If the investigating officer “finds such complaint to be true” a written notice is to be served. Following the notice, dog owners have just 24 hours “to remove and keep such dog from the premises where such dog has been creating such disturbance.”

And if they don’t, the town can “destroy such dog, under a penalty of $5 for every day during which such owner or keeper shall refuse or neglect to remove or destroy such dog.”

Tuesday night, before Town Council, Polisena called the current ordinance outdated and archaic. He turned to artificial intelligence (AI) to help craft a more timely law.

“I wanted to be able to quantify as best as possible what excessive barking means so I used a template from generative AI and in that template quantified excessive barking to mean continuous for 10 minutes or intermittent for 30 minutes, but one or both occurring at least three times in a 24-hour period,” Polisena explained later. “Moreover, the penalties are changed as well.”

If the new barking ordinance is approved, the first violation will trigger a written warning. The second violation will be a $50 fine. And the “third and subsequent violation is $100 per violation,” Polisena said.

“This makes it easier for both complainants and dog owners to deal with these quality-of-life issues as they pop up,” Polisena explained.

The new ordinance lays out an appeal process and includes exceptions for guard dogs, “barking in response to other legitimate threats or disturbances,” and “dogs participating in a certified working dog program (e.g., search and rescue, police K-9 units).” The amended law also hands investigative responsibility to the Johnston Animal Control officer, rather than the police chief.

“We, dog owners, do need to be considerate,” Rocchio said. “But it needs to be fair to everyone … People think of their dogs differently now. I see my dogs as family members.”

The ordinance has the support of Johnston Police Chief Mark A. Vieira

“I’m in support of the proposed ordinance which clearly defines what constitutes a violation relative to ‘excessive barking’ by canines,” Vieira said. “Additionally, this proposed ordinance provides penalties that are more appropriate for a violation of this nature in contrast to violators being served with an order to remove or destroy their canine. The ordinance would also make it easier for our Animal Control Officers to address this quality of life issue.”

A full public hearing on the ordinance is expected next month, during Town Council’s regular September meeting.