Cherokee County, GA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 10-29(a) makes it unlawful for an owner, possessor, guardian, or custodian to fail to keep a dog under restraint or control. Subsection (b) defines a dog as not restrained when it is running at large, whether or not it wears a collar and tag, and requires reasonable precautions to keep the dog on the owner's property. Compliant options are: a securely and humanely enclosed structure, fence, or pen the dog cannot climb, dig, jump, or otherwise escape, locked whenever the animal is unattended; an invisible containment system with a posted sign disclosing it; or a leash under the control of a competent person, or off-leash obedience to voice command with the handler in immediate proximity while on the owner's property.

Tethering a dog by chain, cable, rope, or cord is unlawful unless a competent person is holding the restraint, with a narrow exception for the time needed to feed, water, or clean the animal's quarters. Guard and protection dogs face added rules: confinement inside a perimeter fence with locked ingress and egress, "beware of dog" signs at least ten inches high by 14 inches long on every 50 feet of enclosure, microchip registration with the marshal's office, and a leash no longer than six feet when off-property.

Dogs found running at large may be impounded immediately by the marshal's office or any law enforcement officer, who may pursue the animal onto private property to capture it.