New Bedford, MA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 4-28 sets the core restraint rule: no person owning or harboring a dog may suffer or allow it to run at large in any street or public place in the city, or allow it onto the premises of anyone other than its owner or keeper without that person's permission. The section then fixes a specific mechanical standard rather than leaving 'restrained' undefined: no dog is permitted in any street or public place unless it is effectively restrained by a chain or leash not exceeding seven feet in length.

Section 4-1 backs this up with definitions: a dog is 'at large' when off its owner's property and not under the control of a competent person, and a dog is under 'restraint' only if controlled or at heel beside a competent person and obedient to commands, confined within a vehicle, or kept within its owner's property limits. Owners are also required to remove and dispose of their dog's feces from any sidewalk, street or public-access area, and from private property abutting a public way while the dog is under restraint, with an exception for guide dogs accompanying a blind person.