Taylor, MI Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Taylor's ordinance never names a breed. Sec. 6-1 defines 'vicious animal' as any animal that attacks, bites, scratches or injures human beings or animals without adequate provocation, or which, because of temperament, conditioning or training, has a known propensity to attack, bite or injure. Sec. 6-52(a) then makes it unlawful for anyone in the city to permit a vicious, fierce or dangerous animal to go unconfined and unrestrained on the owner's premises or to run at large. Sec. 6-52(b) goes further and bars owning, keeping or harboring any dog, cat or other animal, licensed or unlicensed, that has attacked, bitten or scratched another person, except when defending its owner, the owner's family or the owner's property, or that exhibits a vicious nature and molests passersby on a public highway, regardless of whether the animal is actually on the highway at the time.

Sec. 6-53 backs both provisions with a court remedy: for a violation of Sec. 6-48 or Sec. 6-52, the district court can order the animal destroyed by the animal control officer, and the city can separately seek an injunction or other order to correct the violation. Because the standard is conduct-based rather than breed-based, a dog of any breed can be declared vicious under Sec. 6-52 once it meets the attack, bite or molestation criteria, while a dog of a commonly-restricted breed elsewhere faces no extra scrutiny in Taylor unless its own behavior triggers the section.