Gastonia, NC Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

§ 7-48, part of the Article IV Parks and Greenways chapter adopted by Ordinance 12-612 in 2012, allows dogs in city parks and on greenway trails only while restrained on a leash no more than eight feet long. It bars other livestock and domestic animals from parks and greenways entirely. Anyone whose dog defecates in a park or on a greenway trail must remove the waste and deposit it in an approved trash receptacle. This park- and greenway-specific leash rule sits alongside the city's broader animal control scheme: under § 10-15, Gastonia delegates general animal control, including at-large dog enforcement citywide, to Gaston County's animal shelter superintendent and animal control officers, operating under the county's own "Animals and Fowl" ordinance adopted July 27, 1989.

Section 10-17 states that the county ordinance's definitions and provisions apply within Gastonia except where a city provision, like § 7-48's park leash rule, is more specific. So a dog off-leash on a city street is handled under the county's animal control ordinance and its officers, while a dog off-leash, over the eight-foot limit, or unattended waste in a city park or on a greenway trail is enforced directly by the city under § 7-48.