Oldham County, KY Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Oldham County's animal control chapter never lists a prohibited or restricted breed. Section 90.01 defines VICIOUS ANIMAL entirely by conduct: an animal that, unprovoked, approaches a person in a terrorizing, attacking manner on a street, sidewalk, or public ground; an animal that poses a physical threat due to an unprovoked attack or bite causing serious bodily harm; an animal that bites multiple times or otherwise attacks and causes severe injury; or an animal kept in whole or part for fighting. It is prima facie evidence of viciousness if the animal bites a person or domestic animal more than once in the same attack or the attack is fatal, and a vicious-animal declaration from another jurisdiction automatically carries over into Oldham County.

Section 90.01 also lists exceptions: an animal is not vicious solely for biting or menacing someone assaulting its owner, someone who tormented or abused it, or for defending against an attack on its owner or protecting nursing young or livestock. Section 90.10 then makes it unlawful to own or possess a vicious animal as defined in Section 90.01, subject to the penalties in Section 90.99. Because the standard turns entirely on documented behavior rather than breed, a dog cannot be declared vicious, muzzled, or removed from the county based on its breed or appearance alone.