Chittenden County, VT Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Vermont counties are judicial-only and have no animal control authority. The framework for local dog regulation is set by 20 V.S.A. Chapter 193: §3549 expressly authorizes municipalities (towns, cities, incorporated villages) to regulate "licensing, keeping, leashing, muzzling, restraint, impoundment, and destruction of domestic pets," subject to a carve-out that municipalities cannot restrict barking or running at large of a working farm dog performing duties on the owner's farm. §3581 (the statewide licensing law) requires every dog over six months old to be registered, numbered, described, and licensed annually with the clerk of the municipality where the dog is kept, on or before April 1, with current rabies vaccination by a licensed veterinarian. The license fee is $4 for a neutered dog, $8 for unneutered, plus a $4 statewide spay/neuter surcharge. Dogs must wear a collar with the issued license tag. §3546 governs vicious-dog hearings after a bite. In Chittenden County, Burlington Code of Ordinances Article 5-2 (Dogs and Cats) defines "at-large" as not under control by leash or similar physical restraint of the owner, family member, or agent, and requires dogs to be leashed at all times except in board-of-parks-designated off-leash areas (where voice control plus leash-in-possession is required). Cats must be leashed or in a carrier when off the owner's property. South Burlington's Care and Control of Dogs and Cats Ordinance, Williston's animal control ordinance, and Essex/Essex Junction rules are similar but vary in detail. Chittenden County does not run a county shelter; impounded dogs in most towns go to the Humane Society of Chittenden County in South Burlington under contract, and animal control is handled by town police or contracted animal control officers.