Norfolk, VA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Under Sec. 1-79(b), an animal is legally at large whenever it is roaming, running, flying, or self-hunting off its owner's property and is not under immediate leashed or lead control or secured in an appropriate carrier. Norfolk's animal control officer can issue an off-leash permit to an owner who completes a certified off-leash obedience class and provides proof of it; the leash requirement does not apply to cats. 2, and no permit is needed inside any area the city manager designates as off-leash. 1-79(a) additionally bars animals at large in trailer coach parks, mobile home parks, and apartment complexes except as a lease allows, and subsection (c) bars animals altogether at public swimming pools.

Any animal picked up loose by a city employee or found on city property becomes city custodial property; under subsection (d), an unclaimed animal becomes city property for disposition after five days, though wildlife or non-native species can go to the Virginia Zoological Park instead. Enforcement runs through Norfolk's animal control officers, who write the citation and can petition for impoundment. Owners cited three times for the same animal can have that animal impounded or sterilized at their own expense under subsection (e), with the sterilization cost billed back to the owner or custodian.