Novi, MI Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

The City of Novi regulates dangerous dogs by conduct rather than by breed; no section of Chapter 5 names or bans a specific breed. Section 5-2 defines a "dangerous or vicious dog" as one exposed to rabies, or one capable of inflicting death or serious injury that has, without provocation, attacked or bitten a person, killed or injured another animal after leaving its owner's property, chased or menaced a person, or shown a propensity to attack. The same definition lists defenses that bar a "dangerous" finding, protecting a person, responding to being teased or assaulted, defending its young, or merely growling or barking.

Section 5-15 bans owning or keeping such a dog in the city except as allowed in Article II, and Section 5-17 imposes the sharpest consequence: once a dangerous or vicious dog bites a person after the chapter's 2011 effective date, the owner must report the incident to the Novi Police Department within twelve hours and humanely destroy the dog within forty-eight hours, unless the victim was trespassing or the owner wins relief at a show-cause hearing. Failing to report within twelve hours creates a legal presumption that the victim was not a trespasser.

On a sworn complaint that an owner missed the forty-eight-hour deadline, a district court or magistrate can order the dog surrendered to county animal control, a humane society, a veterinarian, or a boarding kennel pending a hearing, with boarding costs charged to the owner, and can ultimately order destruction or permanent removal from the city.