Sumter County, FL Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Sec. 4-10(a) of the Sumter County Code makes it unlawful for anyone to cause, permit, or allow a dog or cat to stray or run at large on a public street, sidewalk, other public property, or someone else's property. Sec. 4-4 defines 'at large' as being off the owner's premises and not under 'direct control,' which the code defines as continuous physical restraint by a leash, cord, fence, or chain of sufficient strength, or, for a trained working or agricultural animal responding to commands, being within the handler's unobstructed sight and hearing.

Sec. 4-10(b) exempts three categories: a dog actually engaged in hunting in authorized areas and times under a competent handler's supervision, dogs used by state, county, or municipal law enforcement in the course of their duties, and dogs used to work livestock in the county's designated agricultural areas. Outside those exemptions, Sec. 4-10(c) authorizes animal control officers to impound any dog or cat found at large and to enter private property to capture it. A separate rule in Sec. 4-19 requires that in any park or area the county board designates for pets, the owner must keep the animal leashed, under restraint and control at all times, and clean up its waste.

Impounded strays with no license tag, rabies tag, tattoo, or microchip get only a three-day hold under Sec. 4-11(f)(2), compared with five days for an identified animal.