POLAND – Dog owners can have their day now that selectmen have agreed on a draft barking ordinance and have set a public hearing date.

Before adopting the draft as an official town ordinance, the Board of Selectmen will hear public comments one last time. The public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3, at the Town Office.

After an unsuccessful court case, a year of debate and several legal drafts, selectmen finally decided that the ordinance applies to any animal of the canine family and made no exceptions for kennels.

The latest draft ordinance would prohibit any unnecessary noise from a canine animal that lasts 20 minutes straight, or intermittently for an hour, while the animal is unsupervised.

“Necessary” is defined as barking as a warning or after being provoked by someone other than the owner. “Unnecessary” includes barking while the dog is playing. And “supervised” means that the owner or keeper is physically with the dog.

However, no exceptions or references are made for kennels in the proposed ordinance.

Anyone violating the ordinance will be fined between $50 and $400, depending on the number of offenses. Guilty owners will also have to pay court costs and attorney’s fees.

The town had to pay about $2,000 last year when it went to court on behalf of a complaining resident. Poland lost the case because the current ordinance, enacted at a 1992 town meeting, couldn’t be enforced.