Lawton, OK Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 5-1-114(A) requires owners and keepers to prevent their animals from running at large, and any animal caught doing so is either impounded and held for the seventy-two-hour redemption period of Section 5-1-118, or, at the animal welfare officer's discretion, released on the spot to its owner if it's currently licensed and isn't a dangerous or menacing dog. Section 5-1-101(42) defines "restraint" for purposes of this and related sections as control by a leash or tether that cannot exceed six feet in length, held by a competent person, or, for animals riding in a truck or trailer bed, a purpose-built device that keeps the animal centered in the bed so it can't jump or fall out.

Officers enforcing Section 5-1-114 may pursue an at-large animal onto the owner's property once it's established no one is home and ownership can't otherwise be confirmed, and may use standard capture tools including catchpoles, lead ropes, traps and tranquilizer equipment. Section 5-1-114(F) separately requires any female dog or cat in heat to be confined so it cannot contact other animals except for controlled breeding. A companion provision, Section 5-1-115, treats any dog or cat not confined under Section 5-1-101(12) and not under an owner's actual physical control as presumptively running at large, letting the animal welfare officer cite the owner directly instead of just impounding the animal.

Section 5-1-116 adds a narrower rule barring dogs, leashed or not, from concrete park trails, with an exception for certified working dogs for the disabled and for city-sanctioned public events.