Asheville, NC Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Sec. 3-27, Restraint of animals, in the Asheville City Code requires every person owning or having possession, charge, care, custody or control of an animal to keep it exclusively on the owner's real property. The only way an animal may leave that property is under the physical control of a competent person and physically restrained by a chain, leash or harness that does not exceed eight feet in length and is held in that person's hand; a longer lead, an unattended tie-out, or an animal running loose all violate the rule.

Four exceptions apply. A service animal trained to assist a person with a sight, hearing or mobility impairment doesn't need a physical restraint off the owner's premises as long as it stays under the impaired person's direct control and obeys commands, and the animal control officer can demand proof of the assistance-animal registration. A working police dog performing its duties is exempt. Inside the gated portion of a designated city dog park, the rule is leash optional. And the release of homing pigeons or similar trained birds for outdoor events with a city permit and a finding by the city manager that the release is safe is also exempt.

Sec. 3-25 layers an additional rule onto Riverside Cemetery specifically: any dog there must stay leashed at all times on the paved roads, can't be let loose to relieve itself on graves or headstones, and is barred entirely during funerals, except for dogs assisting people with disabilities.