Dunwoody, GA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

City Code Sec. 6-5 makes it unlawful for an owner or custodian to allow an animal to run at large unattended on the streets and highways within Dunwoody's incorporated limits, or on another person's property without permission, with a narrow exception for dogs being hunted under state game and fish laws. Sec. 6-8 separately imposes a duty to keep any animal under restraint and control at all times while off the owner's, possessor's or custodian's real property. An animal counts as under control only if it is securely confined in a parked or moving vehicle, properly confined within a secure enclosure with that property owner's permission, or securely restrained by a leash or other device held by a competent person.

The code's definitions section (Sec. 6-2) defines an animal under restraint as one humanely secured by a leash or lead, enclosed by a fence or other enclosure, or confined within a vehicle. A companion provision, Sec. 6-7, requires that even on the owner's own property, an unattended animal must be kept from leaving the property and, when outside a proper enclosure but still on the owner's land, must be leashed or under the direct, obedient control of a responsible person present with it; tethering an animal is separately prohibited outright under Sec.

6-7(d), with a narrow secondary-restraint exception for running cable or trolley systems. Because Dunwoody incorporated only in 2008, this animal control article was carried over and amended from the county-era code and is enforced by the city's own police department or code enforcement, with animals impounded through DeKalb County animal control when an owner cannot be identified, per Sec. 6-10.