Macon-Bibb County, GA Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Section 5-25 defines a dangerous dog as one that punctures skin without serious injury, aggressively attacks in a way that creates a reasonable belief of imminent serious injury, or kills a pet off the owner's property, while a vicious dog is one that inflicts serious injury or causes serious injury during an escape attempt. Section 5-26 requires the dog control officer to investigate any report, mail a classification notice within 72 hours, and gives the owner 15 days to request a hearing before the five-member Macon-Bibb County Animal Welfare Appeal Board, staffed with a veterinarian, an animal handler, a health care provider and two at-large residents, for a $40 fee that can be waived for indigence; judicial review of the Board's decision runs through the Probate Court of Bibb County.

Section 5-27 lets a superior court judge order euthanasia after a hearing where a dog has seriously injured a human or where the owner has a related criminal conviction, and mandates euthanasia after a second documented serious injury. Section 5-28 conditions the certificate of registration on a secure enclosure and posted warning signs for a dangerous dog, and adds a microchip and $50,000 in liability insurance for a vicious dog; no owner may hold more than one vicious dog, and anyone convicted of a serious violent felony, dogfighting, animal cruelty or major drug trafficking cannot get a vicious dog certificate.

Section 5-30 requires a classified dog off the owner's property to be leashed to six feet or crated, with a vicious dog also muzzled and never left unattended with minors.