Sauk County, WI Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Sec. 27.006 sits inside the county's Animal Control ordinance and applies to 'all animals,' though most enforcement in practice involves dogs, which are also the only animal Sauk County licenses under Sec. 27.005. An animal that is 'repeatedly at-large' is separately listed as a public nuisance under the Sec. 27.002 definitions, alongside attacking, trespassing on school grounds, parks or cemeteries, and excessive barking. Sec. 27.006(2) separately obligates every owner to exercise proper care and control so the animal does not become that public nuisance, a duty distinct from, but enforced alongside, the bare at-large prohibition in subsection (1).

When the Sheriff's Department or an animal control officer picks up an unrestrained or at-large animal, Sec. 27.007(1) requires it be impounded and confined humanely. To reclaim it, Sec. 27.007(2) requires the owner to pay impoundment fees and expenses and to satisfy the Sec. 27.005 licensing and rabies requirements; officers may pursue an at-large animal onto private property that does not belong to the animal's owner under Sec. 27.012(2). An animal not reclaimed within four days becomes county property for adoption, or after seven additional days may be humanely euthanized under Sec. 27.007(3).