Rutherford County, NC Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Article IV, Section 1 lets the Animal Control Services Director designate an animal as potentially dangerous after an investigation supported by evidence that it fulfills the appendix's definition of a 'dangerous' or 'potentially dangerous animal,' such as inflicting a severe bite, killing or severely injuring a domestic animal off the owner's property, or being harbored for dogfighting. The director must notify the owner in writing with the reasons, and the owner has three days to file a written objection with the director or the determination becomes final.

An appeal goes to a three-member Appellate Board consisting of two Board of Commissioners appointees, one of whom must be a licensed veterinarian, plus the health director as chair; the hearing is scheduled within ten days, and a further appeal to Rutherford County Superior Court must be filed within ten days of the Board's decision under G.S. 67-4.1 et seq. Once designated, Section 3 makes it unlawful to keep the animal unless it is confined in a secure enclosure at all times, or, off the owner's property, securely leashed or chained, muzzled and controlled by someone physically able to restrain it; the director can also order fence repairs, gate security, permanent identification, warning signage, spay/neuter and other measures, giving the owner ten calendar days to comply.

A designated animal may not be sold or offered for adoption, and noncompliance lets an officer seize and impound the animal at the owner's expense, with each day of noncompliance a separate violation.