New Rochelle, NY Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Article I of Chapter 89, Animals at Large, bars any owner or custodian from letting an animal run loose in a public place in New Rochelle. Section 89-1 singles out dogs: they must be restrained by a chain or leash not exceeding six feet in length whenever they are off the owner's premises or off the premises of another person who has consented, with one carved-out exception for the fenced-in dog run area at Ward Acres Park, provided the dog complies with the separate rules in § 224-9B of the Park Code.

Enforcement runs through Section 89-2: the Police Commissioner is empowered to seize, pick up and confine any dog found at large and not on a chain or leash in the streets, parks, park streets, walks or public grounds of the City, whether or not the dog is licensed. Seized dogs are confined with the New Rochelle Humane Society, and an owner who wants the dog back must redeem it under the procedure set out in Section 117 of the state Agriculture and Markets Law, which governs impoundment periods and redemption fees.

Section 89-3 ties the penalty for any offense under this article to the Agriculture and Markets Law itself, incorporating Section 118 of that state law rather than setting a separate City fine schedule. Because licensing is handled separately under Article III of the same chapter, an unleashed dog can generate both an at-large citation and a licensing violation if it also lacks a current Article 7 dog license.