Shelby, MI Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Under § 100-1's definition of restraint, a dog or cat counts as under restraint only if it stays within the real property limits of its owner or is secured on a leash or lead no greater than six feet in length that is strong enough to confine the animal. Section 100-4(A) then makes restraint mandatory: dogs and cats must be kept under restraint at all times and cannot be permitted to run at large in the village, except for a service animal actively performing its duty or a dog actively engaged in a training session, performance event or competition.

A vicious dog or cat, once so determined by a police officer or the animal control authority under § 100-4(B), must go further: it has to be confined inside a building or secure enclosure and muzzled or caged any time it leaves the owner's premises. Owners are held responsible for their animal's behavior under § 100-4(C), and § 100-4(D) requires fecal matter to be collected and removed from wherever the animal is kept. The at-large prohibition is reinforced elsewhere in the chapter: § 100-10(A) bars allowing any animal to run loose or go unconfined, and § 100-10(C) specifically forbids any unrestrained, unleashed or uncontrolled dog in a village park.

Enforcement runs through the Village's animal control authority and county animal control shelter, since § 100-3(B) makes clear this chapter supplements rather than replaces county animal control functions.