Chicopee, MA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

In the City of Chicopee, Massachusetts, § 144-4(A) requires all dogs to be kept under restraint, and § 144-1 defines restraint as a dog on a leash not more than six feet long, except when the dog is confined in a fenced-in area or pen. Chapter 144 was adopted on 10-6-2015 by Ord. No. 15-52.

Related duties sit in the same chapter. Every owner must exercise proper care and control of the animal to prevent it from becoming a public nuisance, and a public nuisance includes any animal that molests passersby or passing vehicles, attacks other animals, is at large in violation of the chapter, or bites or attacks any person. A female dog in heat must be confined in a building or secure enclosure. A vicious animal, as determined by the City after a hearing, must be confined by the owner within a building or secure enclosure and be securely muzzled or caged whenever off the owner's premises.

Unrestrained dogs and nuisance animals are taken by animal control officers, police, humane officers or Board of Health officials and impounded or quarantined in an animal shelter under § 144-5. Impounded dogs are kept for not fewer than seven days, or any lesser minimum period permitted by the Massachusetts General Laws, unless claimed. If a license tag or other means identifies the owner, the animal control officer returns the animal and issues a citation, or impounds the dog and immediately notifies the owner by telephone or mail. An owner reclaiming a dog pays an administrative fee of $40 plus $15 for each day the animal has been impounded. An animal not reclaimed within seven days becomes the property of the local government authority and is placed for adoption or humanely euthanized.

Section 144-5(H) requires the City to review automatically all licenses issued to animal owners against whom three or more violations of the chapter have been assessed in a twelve-month period.