Atlanta, GA Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Section 18-129(b)(4) sets a hard ceiling on how many animals one premises can hold. Horses, mules, asses and cows are capped at 5. Sheep, goats and hogs are capped at 10 each, and the dogs-and-cats row is also 10. Rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters top out at 75, and so do chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, pigeons and similar fowl. The caps apply everywhere except areas zoned for agriculture, and the code carves out licensed veterinary hospitals, commercial kennels, grooming parlors, and public and commercial horse facilities.

This rule sits in Article IV of Chapter 18, which Section 18-100 limits to the part of Atlanta within Fulton County. The DeKalb County portion is governed by Article III, where Section 18-61 incorporates Chapter 5 (Animals) of the DeKalb County Code of Ordinances by reference, so the numbers above do not carry across the county line.

The limit sits beside other keeping conditions in the same subsection. Under (b)(3), outside agricultural zoning, each animal needs an average minimum floor or ground area in its enclosure: 150 square feet for horses, mules, asses, cows, sheep or goats, 150 for hogs, 100 for dogs, and 4 for rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and fowl. Under (b)(2), animals must be kept at minimum distances from any occupied building other than the owner's own dwelling: 150 feet for horses, mules, asses, cows, sheep or goats, 900 feet for hogs, and 25 feet for three or more dogs, for rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters, and for fowl. Under (b)(1), housing must be well-drained and free from accumulations of excrement and objectionable odors, with waste disposed of in a manner approved by Fulton County or its designee.

Hogs are the sharpest case. Section 18-37 makes it unlawful to keep hogs or pigs within the corporate limits, with the exception of miniature potbellied pigs, so the 10-hog row and the 900-foot distance in Article IV sit beside a separate citywide prohibition. The code defines an owner as anyone possessing, harboring or keeping an animal, including the parents of a minor who owns one, and a harborer as anyone who has supplied food or shelter for more than seven days.