Pontiac, MI Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Section 18-1 defines a dangerous dog as one that bites or attacks a person, one that bites or attacks another dog or domestic animal while that animal is on its owner's property or under the owner's control, or one that threatens a person while at large. The definition excludes a dog that bites a knowing criminal trespasser, one that is provoked or tormented, and one responding to protect a person engaged in a lawful activity or under assault. Section 18-53, Dangerous dogs prohibited, then bars any owner from harboring or keeping a dangerous dog, or from keeping a dog in a manner that allows it to behave so as to constitute one.

A first violation is a civil infraction; every subsequent violation is a misdemeanor, and once a person is convicted of a misdemeanor after having already received a civil infraction and misdemeanor tied to the same dog, that owner must relinquish ownership within 30 days of conviction. None of this turns on breed. Pontiac's Code Comparative Table confirms the city once regulated pit bull terriers by name: Ordinance No. 2134, adopted June 20, 2002, repealed §§ 18-55, 18-56 and 18-59, which had pertained to pit bull terriers, and a 2013 ordinance (No.

2280) repealed the remaining possession, maintenance and ownership sections derived from that era. What remains in force is the behavior-based dangerous-dog standard of § 18-53, enforced by the Pontiac Police Department under § 18-2.