Amherst, NY Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Town Code § 99-2(B) makes it unlawful for anyone owning, keeping, harboring or having care, custody or control of a dog to allow that dog off the owner's premises in the Town of Amherst, outside the Village of Williamsville, unless it is restrained by a chain or leash, including retractable leashes, that does not exceed six feet in length and is under the control of a responsible person. The only exception is inside dog parks the Town has duly authorized and posted. The section also builds in a presumption: whenever a dog is found off its owner's premises without that restraint, it is presumed that the owner permitted or allowed the dog to be off the premises in violation of the law, which shifts the practical burden onto the owner at a hearing.

Enforcement runs through the Police Department and Town Animal Control Officers, who under § 99-7 can issue and serve appearance tickets for violations they witness directly. The leash law sits in Article I of Chapter 99, Animals, alongside the Town's separate curbing and feces-removal requirement, which bars a dog from soiling or defecating on any sidewalk, gutter, street, park or private property without the owner's permission.