Sioux Falls, SD Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Statewide preemption: SDCL § 40-34-16 (2014, SL 2014, ch. 196, § 1): 'No local government, as defined in § 6-1-12, may enact, maintain, or enforce any ordinance, policy, resolution, or other enactment that is specific as to the breed or perceived breed of a dog.' This statute applies expressly to all local governments including home-rule charter cities, so Sioux Falls — which operates under a home-rule charter adopted pursuant to SDCL Chapter 6-12 and SD Constitution Article IX § 2 — cannot lawfully restrict, ban, or impose extra requirements on any specific breed. Local rules in place: Sioux Falls Code § 90.003 (Restricted Animals) — an animal may be declared 'restricted' if it approaches in a vicious or terrorizing manner with an apparent attitude of attack, or bites, inflicts injury, assaults, or otherwise attacks a person or other animal upon streets, sidewalks, public grounds, or private grounds. No animal may be declared restricted where the injury was caused to a willful trespasser, a person teasing/tormenting/abusing/assaulting the animal, or someone committing or attempting to commit a crime. Requirements for an animal declared restricted: (1) leashed AND muzzled when off the owner's premises; (2) the owner must carry at least $100,000 in animal-liability insurance covering medical and veterinary costs from the animal's vicious actions; (3) proof of current rabies vaccination; (4) current city dog license; (5) the animal must be spayed/neutered. Sioux Falls Code § 90.003.1 (Vicious Animals) provides a separate, more severe tier — the city uses the Dunbar Bite Scale (a 1-6 levels-of-severity framework) to make objective determinations distinguishing 'restricted' from 'vicious.' Vicious-dog determinations can result in euthanasia. State-level backstop: SDCL § 40-34-13 makes ownership of a vicious dog a public nuisance, and § 40-34-14 defines a vicious dog (behavior-based, breed-neutral). HOA / landlord layer: while the city cannot enforce a breed-specific ordinance, private landlords, insurers, and homeowner associations remain free to impose breed restrictions in private contracts (leases, insurance policies, HOA CC&Rs) — those restrictions are not municipal law and SDCL § 40-34-16 does not reach private parties. December 2024 amendments to Chapter 90 (passed by Sioux Falls City Council) refined the city's dangerous-dog and restricted-animal framework; the amendments remained breed-neutral, consistent with SDCL § 40-34-16.