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

City Code Section 3-71 makes it unlawful for anyone owning, possessing or controlling an animal, except cats, to keep it anywhere unless it is under sufficient physical restraint: a leash held by someone old and strong enough to control the animal, a fence, a secure enclosure, or confinement in a vehicle. An invisible fence counts as a secure enclosure only if every component works and a visible permanent sign discloses it on the property. Tethering a dog to a stationary object is allowed only if all nine conditions in subsection (b) are met: a swivel on both ends of the tether, a minimum length of ten feet in coated steel cable or metal chain, attachment to a buckle collar or harness rather than a choke or pinch collar, a tether weighing no more than ten percent of the dog's body weight, room for the dog to move without entanglement or strangulation while still reaching food, water and shelter, a minimum age of four months, only one dog per tether, and, for pulley or trolley lines, a cable at least ten feet long and no more than seven feet above the ground that keeps the dog at least five feet from any property line.

Renters in townhomes, apartments or condos too small to meet those distances may tether only for temporary exercise or relief. Subsection (c) exempts an animal from restraint while a responsible adult is physically present outdoors and the animal obeys that adult's commands. Subsection (d) requires every dog in a public park to stay on a leash at all times except in a park's designated off-leash area, and exempts guide and hearing-aid dogs and dogs on duty with law enforcement or the park agency.