Queen Creek, AZ Animal Ordinances: Livestock (2026)

Queen Creek's Zoning Ordinance animal regulations set the framework for keeping livestock such as horses, cattle, sheep and goats. The Town Code separately defines 'Livestock' (Sec. 6-2-1) as 'neat animals, horses, sheep, goats, swine, mules and asses' for rabies-control purposes. Farm-animal keeping is generally tied to lot size, with properties of at least one acre eligible to keep livestock; the town estimates only about 1,200 of its roughly 28,000 residential lots meet that one-acre threshold. In April 2026 the Town Council adopted Ordinance 889-26 (P25-0153), which: removed the prior animal-unit count allowances for all lots one acre and larger (so there is no fixed maximum number of farm animals on qualifying large lots); permitted the keeping of swine on lots one acre and larger (previously swine were allowed only for educational facilities); removed educational-exemption language; and added requirements that animals have access to a pasture/grazing area (no minimum size specified) and to shade, whether a structure or landscaping. The ordinance also aligned the public-nuisance/waste provisions with service-provider waste-pickup requirements. Code enforcement is complaint-driven, with officers responding to complaints rather than patrolling.