Brunswick County, NC Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Brunswick County Code Article VIII, Sec. 1-3-351, defines a dangerous dog as one owned for dogfighting or trained to fight, one that without provocation has killed or inflicted severe injury (broken bones, disfiguring lacerations, injury requiring cosmetic surgery or hospitalization) on a person, one that killed or severely injured a domestic animal off the owner's property, or one that approached a person off the owner's property in a vicious or terrorizing manner suggesting attack; law enforcement canines are exempt. The county does not list restricted breeds anywhere in this article.

Under Sec. 1-3-353, the sheriff investigates any dangerous-dog complaint using a written investigation form, witness interviews and a site visit, then refers the file to a three-member dangerous dog panel that does not know the breed, owner's name or victim's identity when it rules. Once a dog is declared dangerous, Sec. 5-gauge galvanized chain-link fencing (or health-director-approved equivalent), or under leash/chain/rope restraint by a competent person when out of the enclosure and muzzled restraint off the owner's property; the dog must be microchipped within ten business days at the owner's expense, and the owner must buy and post a "DANGEROUS DOG" sign from Animal Protective Services on the enclosure.

A dog found at large after a dangerous determination may be tranquilized or destroyed by an officer after unsuccessful capture attempts and sheriff authorization. Owners may appeal a determination to a three-member dangerous dog appellate committee within three business days, and from there to Superior Court. This chapter applies only in unincorporated Brunswick County; Leland, Southport, Oak Island and the county's other incorporated towns enforce their own animal codes.