Clinton Township, MI Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

40 defines a vicious animal as one that attacks a person or another domestic animal without provocation, one with a known propensity to attack or endanger, or one a court or the animal control officer has formally declared dangerous. 41 defines a potentially dangerous animal as one that, unprovoked, engages twice within a 36-month period in behavior requiring a person off the owner's property to take defensive action, or any dog that has bitten someone without provocation even once. 42 excludes a dog from either label if the injured person was trespassing, teasing, tormenting, or committing a crime, and it exempts law-enforcement dogs.

43 lets the animal control officer petition the 41B District Court for a public hearing, with written notice to the owner, at which the court decides by a preponderance of the evidence whether to declare the animal dangerous or vicious; a jury is not available. 44 the officer may seize and impound the animal immediately if it poses an immediate threat, with the owner liable for impoundment costs. 45 requires it to be vaccinated and confined indoors or in a secure kennel; if kept outside it must stay at least four feet from the property line in a secured yard, and off the owner's property it may only be out on a substantial leash, muzzled, and under an adult's control. A vicious-dog designation can also support ordering the animal destroyed or barring the owner from owning any animal for up to three years.