Santa Fe, NM Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

4 SFCC 1987, "Restraint of animals," opens by stating flatly that voice command is not an acceptable form of restraint, foreclosing the common defense that a well-trained dog can be controlled by command alone. Paragraph C requires that any animal on a public street, alley, easement, city property or other place open to the public, or on private property other than the owner's, be properly restrained, and specifically that dogs be on a secure leash no longer than six feet in length and under the immediate effective physical control of the person having custody.

Longer retractable leashes are permitted only if the handler is actually capable of controlling the dog, and a handler standing inside an enclosed structure is not considered to have physical control of a dog that is outside it. The leash rule does not apply to a dog participating in an authorized show or training program, to dogs in a city-designated off-leash exercise ground, or to police canine units working unleashed on public property. On the owner's own property, Paragraph D still requires the animal be confined by a kennel, invisible fencing or an inescapable walled or fenced enclosure so it cannot reach beyond the property line.

Paragraph F separately bars tethering a domestic animal to a stationary object except in narrow circumstances such as a picnic with the owner immediately present, and Paragraph G bars restraining or leaving any animal on a median longer than needed to cross the street.