Kingsport, TN Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

The dog rule in the Kingsport Code sits in Chapter 14, Article II. Section 14-33 makes it unlawful for any person owning, possessing or harboring a dog to permit it to run at large at any place except on the premises of that person or in any city designated dog park. The reach is wide: the rule binds the owner, the person who merely possesses the dog, and the person who harbors it.

The leash exception is written into the same section. A dog is not deemed running at large if it is accompanied by a person actually in control of the dog by leash. The wording ties the exception to actual control by a leash, so a dog that is off the owner's premises without a leash and without a person controlling it by leash is running at large. Section 14-1 defines at large as an animal off the premises of the owner or keeper, unless otherwise specified in the chapter, and section 14-5 confirms that dogs are subject to section 14-33 instead of the general at-large rule for other animals.

Enforcement runs through Article IV. Section 14-81 directs animal control officers to capture, confine or impound any animal in violation of the chapter, with police department assistance available. If the officer can obtain the serial number from a valid rabies or license tag the dog is wearing, the owner can be cited to appear in city court in lieu of impounding. An impounded dog is held for 72 hours, or five days when it wears a valid inoculation or license tag (section 14-83), and the officer tries to notify the owner. To reclaim the dog the owner agrees to procure the required rabies inoculation and pays the applicable fees (section 14-84). Section 14-60 requires the rabies tag to stay on a collar at all times, which is also what lets an officer choose a citation over impoundment.