Acworth, GA Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Basis for classification
- Behavior, not breed (§ 14-1)
- Required outcome
- Permanent confinement or humane destruction
- State overlay
- Georgia Dangerous Dog Control Law, O.C.G.A. § 4-8-20
- Enforcement
- Acworth Police and Cobb County Animal Control
- Default fine
- Up to $1,000 or 6 months jail (§ 1-11)
Summary
Acworth doesn't regulate dogs by breed; Section 14-11 targets any animal, of any breed, that its own definition of 'vicious animal' fits based on what it has actually done. An owner who lets a qualifying animal go unconfined or releases it in a way likely to hurt someone faces permanent confinement or humane destruction of the animal.
Vicious animal means any animal that constitutes a physical threat to human beings or other animals by virtue of one or more attacks of such severity as to cause property damage or physical injury. An animal also is considered to be vicious if it makes an unprovoked attack on other animals or on human beings or on physical property. ... Sec. 14-11. - Vicious animals. The owner of any vicious animal that is not confined in a building or secure enclosure or any person who shall release either willfully or through a failure to exercise due care or control or takes such animal out of such building or secure enclosure in a manner that is likely to cause injury to another person or damage to the property of another person shall be in violation of this chapter, and such animal shall be permanently confined or humanely destroyed.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 27).
Full Breakdown
Section 14-1 defines a 'vicious animal' by conduct, not breed: any animal that constitutes a physical threat to people or other animals because of an attack severe enough to cause property damage or physical injury, or any animal that makes an unprovoked attack on another animal, a person, or physical property. Nothing in that definition or in Section 14-11 references a dog's breed, size or type; the trigger is documented behavior. Section 14-11 then makes it a violation for the owner of a vicious animal to fail to confine it in a building or secure enclosure, or for anyone to release it, whether willfully or through a failure to exercise due care, in a manner likely to injure a person or damage property.
, which supplies its own statewide definitions and hearing procedures for dogs classified as 'dangerous' or 'vicious,' and Section 14-135 confirms that the Acworth Police Department shares authority with Cobb County Animal Control to issue citations for dangerous or potentially dangerous dogs under that state law, on top of the city's own Section 14-11. An owner can therefore face exposure under both the purely local, behavior-based vicious animal rule and the separate state dangerous dog process, depending on how animal control chooses to proceed.
Violations & Fines
A Section 14-11 violation doesn't carry its own posted fine; a citation falls back on the Code's general penalty in Section 1-11, up to a $1,000 fine or six months in jail, but the ordinance's real teeth are non-monetary: it requires the animal itself to be permanently confined or humanely destroyed once the violation is established.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Acworth ban pit bulls or other specific dog breeds?
What happens to a dog declared vicious under Acworth's ordinance?
Who enforces vicious or dangerous dog rules in Acworth?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Acworth
How Acworth compares: Cities with No Dog Breed Restrictions·Compare Acworth to another location·View the Georgia animal ordinances overview
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