Coconut Creek, FL Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 5-6(b) of the Coconut Creek Code applies to any animal, not only dogs. It is unlawful for the owner to allow the animal, willfully or through failure to exercise due care, to stray, run or roam at large on public property, on the common areas of private property maintained by an association, on a street or sidewalk, or on private property without the property owner's consent. Section 5-2 defines at large as off the premises of the owner and not under the control, custody, charge or possession of the owner or some other responsible person. While the owner and animal are on public property, association common areas, streets or sidewalks, the animal must be restrained by a leash or other method.

An officer can issue a citation or summons to the owner of an animal found at large, and can seize and impound it. Section 5-9 empowers the Coconut Creek Police Department to impound any animal whose actions violate Chapter 5. The owner must claim the animal within two (2) hours, or such other time as the holding facility requires. The animal is deposited with Broward County animal control officials at the Broward County Animal Care facility that the county directs, and the owner pays for transportation, impounding and disposition.

Related rules sit beside the leash requirement. Section 5-6(a) makes it unlawful to let an animal create a nuisance through loud or annoying noise, vicious or mean behavior, obnoxious smell, or excrement left on public property, streets or sidewalks without cleaning it up. A dog that has bitten or attacked someone must be muzzled and on a leash no greater than three (3) feet long when it leaves the property. Under § 5-7, tethering in place of an enclosure is limited to 30 minutes between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., is not permitted from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., and requires a tether of at least ten (10) and no more than fifteen (15) feet, though a handheld leash, rope or chain is expressly allowed. The Police Department and the Department of Sustainable Development enforce Chapter 5.