Plainfield, NJ Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 5:7-4 of the Plainfield Municipal Code puts the duty on the owner or anyone with custody of the dog. The dog cannot be at large, and it cannot be confined in a way that lets it escape and be at large, unless it is securely held on a leash of sufficient strength not more than three feet long, or other suitable means to exert control. The person with the dog must have sufficient size, strength and command to adequately control and monitor the dog under all circumstances. A separate sentence caps walking at two dogs at a time.

Section 5:7-3 backs this up. No one with custody of a dog or other animal can let it annoy or injure another person or animal, or run at large on any public street or other public or private property in the City of Plainfield, unless it is controlled by a leash or other suitable means. The ordinance declares failure to do so a nuisance and dangerous to public health and safety. Section 5:7-1 adds that an owner cannot let a dog damage a lawn, shrubbery, flowers or other property, or threaten or molest anyone on a public street or in a public place.

Waste rules travel with the leash. Under § 5:7-1(c) a dog walker must immediately remove and dispose of feces, using a sanitary method approved by the Department of Health, and carry it away in a sealed, nonabsorbent, leak-proof container. Section 5:7-14 applies to any property not owned or possessed by the owner, is enforced by the City of Plainfield Police Department, and carries a fine of no less than $250 and no more than $1,000 per occurrence.

Tying a dog up in place of leashing it is tightly limited. Section 5:7-6A-2 allows unattended tethering for a total of no more than six hours in twenty-four, with a maximum of two hours at one interval, bans chains, and bars tethering between 10:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. No dog can be tethered within five feet of another person's property or a public thoroughfare.