All animal complaints are run through the City of Plano Health Department Animal Services Division. To lodge a complaint, please call 972-769-4360 to speak with an Animal Services Officer.  The ASO will need the exact physical address of the complaint, description of the animal (if known), owner’s address (if known), and nature of complaint.  The request for service will be assigned to a field Officer who will investigate the complaint and take appropriate action.  Complaints are prioritized according to Animal Services policies.  High priority calls are usually responded to within fifteen minutes while response to low priority calls could take hours depending upon call volume.  Nearly all complaints responded to the same day they are received except for very low priority calls that are received late in the day or during a time with an excessive volume of high priority calls.  In these rare cases, the call will be handled the following day.

Complaints include at-large animals, nuisances such as barking, and animal cruelty due to a lack of proper food/water/shelter.  Animal Services Officers will investigate every complaint that is received however they must do so within the limits of state and local law. Officers can issue citations only for violations of city ordinance that they personally witness.  There are also other requirements for noise and nuisance complaints that must be met before any type of prosecution can occur.

In instances where an Animal Services Officer cannot witness the infraction, such as noise violations, every citizen has the right to go to the Plano Municipal Court and lodge a complaint there. Anyone who witnesses the infraction can file an “Application for Complaint and Sworn Affidavit” that will be reviewed by a Prosecutor.  If there is sufficient evidence of an ordinance violation, the Court may issue a citation to the owner of the animal.  These complaints cannot be made anonymously and the witness must be prepared to testify should the owner contest the citation.

Noise complaints must meet certain criteria before any citation can be issued.  In most situations, Animal Services Officers cannot issue citations to owners of barking dogs without a witness who is willing to testify to the persistent, on-going nature of the barking.  The standard procedure for responding to nuisance barking complaints is for the owner to be contacted either in person or via mail for the first two complaints so that an Officer can make them aware of the situation and hopefully provide advice on curtailing the nuisance barking.  For a citation to be issued, the complainant will need to complete a “Noise Complaint Log” and file it with an “Application for Complaint and Sworn Affidavit” at the Municipal Court as detailed above.

Click here to read the Plano Animal Services Barking Nuisance Brochure (PDF)