Livestock rules are municipal, not county-set. Allentown prohibits keeping cattle, swine, sheep, goats, or fowl in the city. Rural Lehigh County townships allow livestock subject to zoning acreage and setback limits, and farms in Agricultural Security Areas get Right-to-Farm protection.
Pennsylvania counties do not zone, so livestock keeping is governed by each borough, township, or city under the Municipalities Planning Code. Allentown's Codified Ordinances make it unlawful to keep cattle, swine, sheep, goats, or fowl within the city except at slaughtering or laboratory sites. Agricultural townships throughout Lehigh County permit livestock but impose minimum lot sizes, animal-density caps, and setback distances for barns, manure, and pens in their zoning codes. Commercial farms enrolled in an Agricultural Security Area receive nuisance protection under Pennsylvania's Right to Farm Act (3 P.S. §951 et seq.).
Unlawful livestock in Allentown is a code violation with fines up to $1,000 and abatement orders; township zoning violations carry their own daily penalties and enforcement.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Lehigh County's livestock rules stack up against other locations.
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