Decatur, AL Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Article II of Chapter 4 of the Code of Decatur, Alabama, names no breed. Sec. 4-16 defines a potentially dangerous animal by behavior: two unprovoked incidents within thirty-six months that force a person into defensive action off the owner's property, an unprovoked bite causing less than severe injury, or an unprovoked attack on a domestic animal off the owner's property. A vicious animal is one the municipal court declares vicious, one that unprovoked inflicts severe injury on or kills a human being, a listed potentially dangerous animal that repeats the behavior after notice, or an animal kept for fighting. Severe injury means muscle tears, broken bones, or disfiguring lacerations needing multiple sutures or corrective or cosmetic surgery.

Animal control or law enforcement petitions the municipal court after finding probable cause (Sec. 4-19). The owner is served with notice, and the hearing is held no less than 10 nor more than 20 days after the notice is mailed. Where severe injury occurred, the judge can impound the animal at the owner's expense pending the hearing. Sec. 4-22 bars a declaration where the injured person was trespassing, teasing the animal, or committing a crime, where the animal was defending a person, or where it was responding to pain or protecting itself or its offspring. Sec. 4-17 exempts police dogs, certified guide dogs, and licensed kennels, shelters, animal control facilities, and veterinarians.

Under Sec. 4-23 the judge orders registration with the department of animal control for a $25 fee, a numbered metal tag on the collar, proof of license and vaccination within 14 days, a locked pen with a warning sign such as "BEWARE OF DOG", and a muzzle or a leash no longer than six feet outside the pen. The judge can also order a $100,000 liability policy. Sec. 4-18(b) bars selling, offering for sale, breeding, or buying a vicious animal in the city. The owner complies within 14 days of the decision unless an appeal is filed in circuit court within 14 days (Sec. 4-20). A potentially dangerous animal comes off the list after 36 months without a new incident (Sec. 4-30).