Columbia County, FL Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Columbia County's animal control article, adopted by Ord. No. 98-3 and later amended, applies throughout the unincorporated county but not inside Lake City or Fort White, which enforce their own codes (Code § 18-72). Code § 18-73 defines restraint as an animal controlled by leash or under the control of a competent person and obedient to that person's commands, a definition that ties directly into the confinement rule at Code § 18-74. That section requires every animal to be confined within an enclosure sufficient to prevent its escape while on property owned or controlled by the owner, or on other property with that owner's consent.

An animal kept indoors is presumed confined without more. The county allows two alternatives to a physical enclosure: the animal may be under restraint on a tether that keeps it on permitted property, or on a leash within the owner's control that prevents it from roaming onto a neighbor's land. The section closes with a welfare limit: it does not authorize tethering an animal in a way that deprives it of shelter, food, or water. An animal that gets loose becomes a stray or nuisance animal under Code § 18-75, which the county's animal control officer, or the sheriff's office for livestock, may impound; the owner can face a citation before the special magistrate, and the animal is held at the shelter for a minimum three-working-day claim period before adoption or other disposition.