Apex follows the Wake County Animal Control Ordinance for animal restraint within the town. All dogs (and cats) off the owner's property must be under physical restraint - a leash, chain, or fence sufficient to allow the owner to maintain control. Wake County's definition of 'adequate restraint' is a secure enclosure on the owner's property, or a physical/electronic device of sufficient strength to control the animal. Rabies tags are required to be worn under N.C. Gen. Stat. 130A-185. Apex does not require separate Town pet registration. Wake County Animal Services (919-212-7387) is the field enforcement agency.
Inside the Town of Apex, animal restraint is governed by Chapter 4 of the Apex Town Code in conjunction with the Wake County Animal Control Ordinance (Wake County Code Chapter 91), which Wake County Animal Services is authorized to enforce in Apex by intergovernmental agreement. The Wake County Ordinance defines 'adequate restraint' as a secure enclosure located on the owner's property, or a chain, leash, or other physical or electronic device of sufficient strength to allow the owner to maintain control of the animal; a dog off the owner's property without such restraint is 'at large' and subject to impoundment. North Carolina General Statute 67-12 separately makes it unlawful for any person owning or having charge of any dog to allow the dog to run at large in the nighttime unattended by the owner or some member of the owner's family or other person by the owner's permission - violation is a Class 3 misdemeanor and creates strict civil liability for damages. N.C. Gen. Stat. 130A-185 requires every owner of a dog, cat or ferret over four (4) months of age to have the animal vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian, and current rabies tags must be displayed (the rabies-tag requirement is one of the only universal animal-registration rules in Apex; the Town itself does not require a separate municipal pet license). Wake County Animal Services dispatches Animal Control Officers from the Wake County Animal Center at 820 Beacon Lake Drive, Raleigh, with a service area that covers Apex, Fuquay-Varina, Knightdale, Morrisville, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Wendell, Zebulon, and unincorporated Wake County (the larger cities of Raleigh, Cary, Garner, and Holly Springs run their own animal-control programs). Bite-quarantine is handled under N.C. Gen. Stat. 130A-196 (10-day observation), which may be carried out at a licensed veterinary hospital, at the Wake County Animal Center, or - if the dog has a current rabies vaccination and the owner agrees - at the owner's home in a secure enclosure.
Allowing a dog off the owner's property without adequate restraint (leash, chain, or owner-controlled electronic device) violates the Wake County Animal Control Ordinance as enforced in Apex; allowing a dog to run at large at night is also a Class 3 misdemeanor under N.C. Gen. Stat. 67-12. Failing to vaccinate a dog, cat, or ferret over 4 months against rabies is a violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. 130A-185 (Class 2 misdemeanor). A dog that bites a person must be reported and placed under a 10-day rabies-observation quarantine per N.C. Gen. Stat. 130A-196. Field enforcement and impoundment is by Wake County Animal Services (919-212-7387 non-emergency, 919-856-6911 active dispatch); impounded animals are held at the Wake County Animal Center.
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Apex, NC
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