Palm Coast, FL Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Sec. 8-31(d) of the Palm Coast City Code requires every owner, or anyone with an animal in their possession, to keep the animal under restraint at all times while it is off the real property limits of the owner, possessor or custodian, unless the owner has the consent of the person on whose property the animal is present. The rule exempts performing animals engaged in a bona fide commercial performance or a parade, provided the owner still takes reasonable steps to protect the public. Subsection (f) then sets a hard numeric limit on any leash used off the owner's property, capping it at eight feet.

Sec. 8-28 defines 'restraint' broadly to include being controlled by chain, tether or leash, confined in a vehicle, confined within property limits with the owner's consent, or confined in a crate, cage or fenced yard consistent with sound husbandry practices, and separately defines an 'animal at large' as any animal off its owner's property and not under restraint, whether licensed or not. Sec. 8-30(b) makes it unlawful for an owner to allow an animal to run at large, either willfully or through failure to exercise due care and control, and Sec.

8-30(c) authorizes an animal control officer to take a loose animal into custody and impound it at an animal shelter. An owner is also liable in damages under Sec. 8-30(f) for any injury or property damage the at-large animal causes. 00 under Sec. 8-57(a)(5), contestable before the Hearing Officer.