Chandler, AZ Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Section 14-37, part of Chapter 14, Article IV (Animal Cruelty, Seizure and Forfeiture of Animals), defines the hoarding offense broadly: a person commits animal hoarding by owning, possessing, keeping, harboring or maintaining a number of animals in a quantity and under circumstances injurious to the health or welfare of any animal or person. The section lists non-exclusive qualifying circumstances, abandonment; unsanitary, overcrowded, or otherwise inhumane conditions; failure to provide necessary medical care and treatment to prevent unreasonable suffering; or failure to provide suitable drinking water or food fit for consumption and appropriate to the species.

A conviction is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Section 1-8 of Chapter 1. Beyond the criminal penalty, the court must order restitution to the City, an animal welfare organization, shelter, veterinary clinic, suitable home, or other caretaker for the reasonable costs of securing, housing, feeding, treating, or humanely destroying the animal from seizure through conviction. If a hoarder is placed on supervised probation, the court may additionally order periodic compliance inspections and may prohibit the person from owning, possessing, keeping, harboring or maintaining any animals for the probation period.

1, including 'cruel neglect,' 'adequate shelter' and 'adequate medical care', inform how a hoarding case is built. Article IV was adopted by Ordinance No. 4992, effective December 4, 2023.