Kirkwood, MO Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

The two limits work differently. Section 4-30, unchanged since the 1959 General Ordinances, makes it unlawful outright to keep, harbor, or house more than three dogs on any premises in the City, whether the premises belongs to the owner or someone else. Its only exception covers a litter of puppies, which may stay with their mother until they reach six months old and are weaned. Section 4-5 treats the cat limit differently: keeping more than three cats on one premises isn't charged as a straight ordinance violation but is instead declared a nuisance, meaning the City pursues it through the Code's nuisance abatement procedures rather than a direct criminal citation, though it carries the same litter exception, capped at two months for kittens instead of six for puppies.

Both sections count animals per premises, not per owner, so a household sharing an address with another adult's pets could trip either cap. Kirkwood's Director of Public Services can also treat an over-the-limit household as a public nuisance address under § 4-37 if the animals are additionally creating noise, property damage, or other disturbances covered by that section. Because § 4-5 routes through nuisance abatement, a resident cited for keeping a fourth cat has that separate process, typically a notice-and-cure period, before the City escalates enforcement, while a fourth dog under § 4-30 is directly chargeable as a Code violation subject to the general penalty in § 1-8.