Stonecrest, GA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Sec. 5-3 governs restraint on the owner's own property: dogs and other animals must be confined in a secure, humane 'proper enclosure' with at least 100 square feet of open space, or kept on leash and under a responsible person's control if outside the enclosure. Tethering an animal is flatly prohibited under Sec. 5-3(d); the only allowed alternative is a running cable or trolley system that meets ten specific conditions, including a 12-hour daily cap, a curfew between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., a chewproof tether weighing no more than five percent of the animal's body weight, and mandatory perimeter warning signs for electronic confinement systems.

Off the owner's property, Sec. 5-4 requires the animal to be leashed or under direct voice control at heel, except in city parks that are specifically signed and fenced as off-leash areas; without that signage, restraint is required even inside parks. Sec. 5-5 separately bars letting any animal run at large on streets, rights-of-way, in unsigned park areas, on apartment or condo common property, or on someone else's property without permission, though hunting dogs working under state hunting law are exempt. The Police Chief, who may deputize DeKalb County Animal Control officers, enforces the chapter under Sec. 5-19 by summons to Stonecrest Municipal Court or DeKalb County Magistrate Court, and may immediately impound an unattended, unrestrained animal found in public.