Flagstaff, AZ Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Flagstaff's City Code has no breed-specific ban; it regulates dangerous dogs by conduct instead. Flagstaff City Code § 6-02-001-0001(C)(1) defines a 'vicious dog' as one that bites a human without provocation, one with a known propensity or disposition to bite people, one that while at large kills or injures a domestic animal, or one a City Magistrate declares vicious after a hearing that finds a pattern of aggressive behavior causing injury, apprehension or intimidation, regardless of breed. Once a dog meets any of those tests, subsection (B) requires the owner to keep it on the owner's own premises unless it is under the control of a competent person and is both securely leashed and muzzled, to confine it, and it is separately unlawful for a vicious dog to be at large within City boundaries.

The Code defines 'unconfined' in subsection (C)(2) as any time the dog is not securely indoors or in a securely enclosed, locked pen or run adequate to prevent escape. A vicious dog at large is a Class 1 misdemeanor under § 6-02-001-0012(A), with a fine of not less than $200, and a repeat vicious-dog violation within twelve months raises the minimum fine to $500 plus the $100 shelter surcharge under § 6-02-001-0012(C). Beyond the fine, § 6-02-001-0012(B) lets the City Magistrate hold a destruction hearing after any vicious dog conviction, and destruction becomes mandatory, not discretionary, if the same dog has a prior vicious dog conviction.

The declaration itself comes from a hearing before the Magistrate examining the dog's actual behavior pattern, so an owner can contest whether the incidents amount to a pattern before any restriction attaches.