Woodbury, MN Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Sec. 5-23 states plainly that no person who owns, keeps, or harbors an animal may allow it to run at large at any time beyond the limits of land owned or possessed by the owner, keeper, or harborer, or upon public streets, sidewalks, or other public or private property in the city. The operative term is defined in Sec. 5-16: "at large" means off the premises of the owner and not under the custody and control of the owner or other person, either by leash, cord, chain, or otherwise restrained or confined, so a dog off its own yard without a leash or other physical control is automatically in violation regardless of temperament.

The rule applies to any "animal," defined in chapter 5 as a cat, dog, or other domesticated animal, not just dogs. Related sections in the same article reinforce leash-and-control expectations: Sec. 5-26 requires a female animal in heat to be confined or kept on a leash while exercised, and Sec. 5-19 separately adopts Minn. Stat. Sec. 69, barring unmuzzled dogs at large, by reference. The community service officer, designated animal control officer under Sec. 5-20, along with any police officer, has authority under Sec. 5-43 to seize, impound, or restrain an animal found running at large and to notify the owner, with the animal held at the city pound for the stray holding period set by state law.