LaPorte County, IN Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

" That creates two separate triggers: simply owning a fifth pet over four months old crosses the household threshold, and separately, boarding, breeding, or caring for even a third animal for pay, or keeping any animals for sale, also counts as a kennel regardless of the four-pet number. Once a property meets either definition, it falls under the Appendix D zoning use table, which lists "Kennel" as PR (Prohibited) in R-1, R-2, and R-3, the county's three residential zoning districts, and also PR in LB (Local Business) and SC (Shopping Center).

Kennels require a Special Exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals in GB (General Business), AB (Accommodation Business), and IR (Industrial Reserve), and are permitted by right only in I (Industrial) and A (Agriculture). Practically, a homeowner in any unincorporated residential zoning district is capped at four dogs, cats, or similar household animals over four months old; a fifth animal, or paid boarding or breeding of a third, makes the property a kennel, a use the residential districts flatly prohibit rather than merely restrict.