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

Southfield City Code § 9.82, titled Permitting dogs or cats to stray, requires every owner or other person with possession, care, custody or control of a dog or cat to keep the animal under reasonable control or confined to his or her property. The section defines reasonable control precisely: the animal must be attached to a leash that is continuously held by a person who is reasonably able to and does restrain and prohibit the animal from being out of that person's physical control. A dog or cat wandering loose in a yard, or tied to a leash no one is actively holding, does not meet that standard.

Penalties escalate with repetition. A first violation is only a municipal civil infraction, carrying the civil fines and penalties set under § 1.703 of Chapter 15 of the City Code, the same schedule used for other Chapter 113 animal violations. A second offense, or any further offense within two years of the first, is reclassified as a misdemeanor: up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both. Each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense, so an owner who repeatedly lets an animal run loose can face escalating citations rather than a single charge.

Southfield Police Department animal control officers enforce the section, and § 9.86 separately makes it a misdemeanor to obstruct an officer carrying out that enforcement. The current text was last amended by Ord. No. 1705 on August 1, 2019, tightening the definition of reasonable control.