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

Surry County's Animal Control and Animal Welfare Chapter supplements, rather than replaces, North Carolina's dangerous-dog statutes at G.S. § 130A-200 and G.S. § 67-1A; § 90.065 states that purpose directly. Section 90.066 designates the Surry County Public Health Director, or a designee, as the person who determines whether a dog meets the state definition of a dangerous dog or potentially dangerous dog under G.S. § 67-4.1(c), and it designates the Animal Control Committee as the separate board that hears any appeal under G.S. § 67-4.2(c).

No provision anywhere in Chapter 90 singles out a breed; every determination in Surry County turns on documented conduct, such as inflicting bites causing broken bones, disfiguring lacerations, or hospitalization, or killing or severely injuring another domestic animal off the owner's property. Section 90.067 then splits disposition into two tracks. A dog found DANGEROUS is impounded on delivery of written notice and destroyed once the determination becomes final. A dog found POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS may instead be redeemed, but only on conditions: the owner must complete and have inspected a SECURE ENCLOSURE, or maintain RESTRAINT, as defined in § 90.001, keep current rabies vaccination, and within 30 days have the dog spayed or neutered and microchipped at the owner's expense.

A third violation of the enclosure or restraint condition results in immediate impoundment and destruction on a final adverse determination. Section 90.068 separately requires annual January registration of every dog with a final potentially-dangerous determination, notice before any sale or transfer, and mandatory microchip scanning within 24 hours of the dog's death to confirm it is deceased.