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

The City of Jacksonville, North Carolina, still prints its dog-at-large leash requirement in the code even though its historic dog-control articles in Chapter 4 were repealed in 1998, when the city adopted the Onslow County Animal Ordinance and authorized Onslow County to administer, regulate, and enforce animal control services within the city limits. The surviving leash text sits in Chapter 28's stormwater article, under the pet-waste provisions that apply to areas draining to shellfish (SA) waters: Sec. 28-308(A)(1)(a) states plainly that it is unlawful for a dog owner to allow the animal off the owner's premises without a leash.

The same subsection requires an owner or custodian taking a dog off the owner's own property to carry a means, such as a plastic bag or other suitable container, to remove and dispose of the dog's feces, and it makes a dog that deposits feces on public property, or on private property without consent, a public nuisance if the owner fails to clean it up; the cleanup duty does not apply to a handicapped person's trained guide or service dog. Because Chapter 28 has no penalty section of its own for this subsection, an owner who lets a dog run unleashed is subject to the Code's general civil penalty under Sec.

1-11: one hundred dollars for each day the violation continues, collectible by the city as a civil debt if not paid within ten days of citation. A separate, park-specific leash rule in Chapter 16 also caps a leash at six feet in city parks and trailways.