Brockton, MA Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Section 3-11 governs how Brockton designates a dog "dangerous" or a "nuisance"; the ordinance regulates individual dogs by behavior, not by breed. Under subsection (a), the chief of police, a hearing officer appointed by the mayor, any animal control officer, or another city officer or employee the mayor designates can initiate a complaint and hearing under section 157(d) of M.G.L. c. 140. Subsection (b) lets the hearing officer, working with the city's law department, petition district court for an impoundment order for a dog complained of as dangerous while an owner's appeal is pending, and to take further action to defend that order in court. Subsection (c) authorizes the hearing authority to order signage at the property alerting the public that a dangerous dog lives there, on top of whatever other compliance conditions the hearing sets.

Once a dog has been found "potentially dangerous or vicious" after an administrative hearing anywhere, subsection (d) bars it from being kept, owned or harbored in Brockton at all, regardless of where the original finding occurred. Subsection (e) forbids a dog designated dangerous from attending public festivals, carnivals, parades or similar events without an event-specific waiver from animal control or police. Sections 3-11(f) and (g) add that the animal control department may randomly inspect any property housing a dog deemed dangerous, and that an owner who removes or rehomes such a dog outside the city must notify animal control of the new location and new owner within 24 hours. Compliance with a dangerous-dog order under subsection (h) is not a defense against a disposal order under M.G.L. c. 140, Section 157, and subsection (i) ties all notice and hearing procedures to that same state statute.