Queen Creek, AZ Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Article 6-2 of the Town Code defines a "vicious animal" in Section 6-2-1 as any animal, other than a law-enforcement dog, that has a propensity to bite, scratch or otherwise injure a person without provocation (one incident can establish the propensity), or that approaches people without provocation in a menacing or terrorizing manner, and that has been declared vicious after a hearing before a justice of the peace or town magistrate. Section 6-2-11 sets the process: when the county Enforcement Agent investigates a bite or aggression complaint and finds probable cause that an animal is potentially dangerous or vicious, the aggrieved victim (or a guardian, if the victim is a minor or disabled), the Supervisor of Maricopa County Animal Control, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, or their designee may file a petition to have the animal declared potentially dangerous or vicious.

The petition must be filed with the Town of Gilbert Municipal Court under that court's established procedures, on a form the Gilbert court prescribes, reflecting an intergovernmental arrangement under which Queen Creek uses a neighboring town's court for these hearings. Once an animal is declared vicious, the County Enforcement Agent must euthanize it on the order of a Justice of the Peace, a Town of Queen Creek Magistrate, or another jurisdiction's magistrate serving Queen Creek under an intergovernmental agreement, but only after the owner receives notice and a hearing.

Any dog previously declared vicious that is again found at large under Section 6-2-9 exposes its owner to Queen Creek's harshest at-large penalty: a fine of not less than five hundred dollars and a minimum of five days in jail.