Santa Fe, NM Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

4 SFCC 1987, "Vicious animals; dangerous animals," draws its line at conduct, not breed. Paragraph A bars anyone from keeping or harboring a vicious animal, defined earlier in the chapter as one that kills or causes great bodily harm, but only a court of law can make that finding case by case; an owner is not automatically in violation until a judge rules on the specific incident. Once an animal is judicially declared vicious, it must be surrendered to the animal services center for humane euthanasia at the owner's expense, or the owner must furnish proof that the animal has already been destroyed.

Paragraph B covers the lesser category of dangerous animal: one whose unprovoked conduct forces a defensive response to prevent great bodily harm, or that injures a person without causing great bodily harm, or that poses a hazard through a poisonous bite or sting. An animal judicially deemed dangerous must be muzzled, kept on a leash no longer than three feet, and kept under the owner's immediate physical control whenever off the owner's own premises; noncompliance with those conditions lets a court escalate the animal to vicious on a later offense. 4 turns entirely on what the specific animal did, and any breed is judged the same way.