Fort Worth, TX Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

City Code § 6-13(a) makes it unlawful for an owner to fail to keep an animal under restraint or to exercise diligent care preventing the animal from becoming a public nuisance. Subsection (b) defines an 'adequate enclosure': a continuous fence or wall of chain link, welded wire, wrought iron, brick, mortared stone, concrete block or wood stockade at least 48 inches high for ordinary dogs and 72 inches high for dogs already determined aggressive. An outdoor enclosure confining an animal for a substantial part of the day, defined as being observed there at least twice in one day five or more hours apart, must give each animal over six months old at least 48 square feet of space; the exception covers registered rescue nonprofits and animals boarded fewer than 30 days.

Cats must be kept from roaming beyond the owner's property line, with an affirmative defense for feral cats enrolled in the city's trap-neuter-return program. Subsection (d) bans tethering a dog to a stationary object or trolley system outright; subsections (e)-(f) carve out narrow affirmative defenses for events, veterinary care, training, law-enforcement work, or a leash kept within 15 feet of the street on the owner's own property, but only if the tether attaches to a properly fitted collar or harness, never directly around the neck, weighs no more than one-twentieth of the dog's body weight, and leaves the dog access to shelter and water.

Transporting an animal in an open truck or flatbed requires a secured carrier or a cross-connected restraint. The animal care and control division within the code compliance department enforces the section, and a property owner may petition the director to modify the fencing specs; that decision is final and non-appealable.