Fairfax Animal Ordinances: Livestock Rules (2026)

The City of Fairfax is a fully urbanized independent city of roughly 24,000 residents with lot sizes and infrastructure oriented toward single-family and townhouse residential development near George Mason University. The zoning ordinance does not designate any agricultural district sufficient to support conventional livestock, so cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, and similar hoofed livestock are not permitted as of right anywhere in the city. Miniature or pygmy goats are sometimes requested as pets but are treated as livestock under the ordinance and cannot be kept without a special use permit, which is rarely granted given the city density. Pigs including pot-bellied pigs are generally prohibited. Stables and paddocks would require minimum acreage commonly set at 2 or more acres per large animal, which is not available in most city lots. Residents who wish to keep horses or other livestock typically board them at stables in surrounding Fairfax County or Loudoun County. Enforcement is through the zoning administrator, with orders of abatement and civil penalties that escalate if the animals are not removed after notice.