Corvallis, OR Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Corvallis' leash law, Section 5.03.050.040.04 in the Prohibited Activities article of Chapter 5.03.050, provides that except as permitted in subsection 5.03.050.040.10, no dog shall be at large within the City, and no person shall permit or allow any dog owned by the person to be at large in the City. 'At large' is defined in Section 5.03.050.010(3) as being off the premises of the dog's owner and not restrained by a handheld leash no longer than six feet, held by someone capable of controlling the dog.

The only exception is Section 5.03.050.040.10, which allows dogs off-leash in the special use park areas the City has designated under Section 5.03.050.080.04. A violation of the at-large ban is a Class B Infraction, and the City Manager, acting through the Animal Control Officer, must take such action as deemed reasonably necessary to cause each dog at large to be taken up and impounded under the impoundment procedures of Section 5.03.050.070. An impounded dog is deemed relinquished if not claimed within 72 hours and all impoundment fees paid; the fees are set by the City Manager to keep animal control self-sustaining under Section 5.03.050.070.06.

The leash law is separate from, and narrower in penalty than, the general animal-at-large ban in Section 5.03.050.040.05, which covers other animals and carries a Class A Infraction. The chapter's history runs from Ord. 82-77 Section 104.04 in 1982 through Ord. 2010-21 Section 1, adopted October 18, 2010.