Framingham, MA Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

There is no flat citywide limit on the number of pets a Framingham household may keep, but City Code § 206-10 draws the line at dogs: anyone maintaining more than three dogs must obtain a kennel license. The license is purchased through the City Clerk's office, with the fee set by the City Council rather than fixed in the ordinance itself, mirroring how individual dog licenses are handled under the neighboring § 206-9. Before the City Clerk can issue a kennel license, it must be approved both by the Board of Health, which reviews conditions like sanitation and space for the animals, and by the Animal Control Officer, whose sign-off is required under MGL c.

140, § 137A. Because the threshold is written as "more than three dogs," a household with exactly three dogs and no more stays outside the kennel-license requirement, while a fourth dog triggers it regardless of whether the dogs are kept for breeding, boarding, or simply as pets. The ordinance sits inside the same Dogs article that sets dog licensing under § 206-9, restraint under § 206-3, and penalties under § 206-7, so a kennel operated without the required license, or one that lost Board of Health or Animal Control Officer approval, exposes the owner to that article's escalating fine schedule alongside any separate Board of Health enforcement action.

Every dog in Framingham, kennel or not, still needs its own annual license from the City Clerk under § 206-9, available starting January 2 each year, with a late fee of $50 for licenses not purchased by February 28.