Millcreek, PA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 8-2 of the Millcreek Township Code does not set a leash length or name a leash at all. It states a duty: the owner of an animal "shall keep his or her animal under restraint at all times and shall not permit such animal to run at large in the Township." Under § 8-1 a dog is an ANIMAL, and RUN AT LARGE means being on any public highway, street, alley, park or other public place, or on another person's property, without being under physical control or confined. A dog on a retractable leash at the owner's hand is under physical control; a dog roaming a neighbor's yard is not.

Seizure is built into the rule. The Animal Resource-Code Enforcement Officer, a Code Enforcement Department position created by Ord. No. 2022-5 and amended by Ord. No. 2023-7, can seize any animal found running at large in the Township. When that happens the owner, if known, is given notice of the seizure and can redeem the animal by paying all costs and penalties. An unknown owner or an unclaimed animal means release to an approved shelter.

Section 8-2B covers the owner's own lot. On the owner's property the animal must be controlled or restrained so it cannot attack or threaten any person legitimately coming onto the property, or anyone on a sidewalk, street or lot adjacent to the property. A fence gate left open to the sidewalk does not satisfy that duty if the dog threatens a passerby.

Other dog rules sit alongside the restraint rule. Section 8-6A requires every dog in the Township to be licensed under the Pennsylvania Dog Law, and § 8-4B requires immediate removal of feces the dog leaves on public property or on another person's property. Section 8-7E authorizes the Millcreek Township Police Department and the Animal Resource-Code Enforcement Officer to enforce the article and the Dog Law.