New Rochelle, NY Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Section 331-4 of the Zoning Code defines 'Household Pet' as an animal commonly kept in a dwelling unit for amusement or companionship, listing dogs, cats, birds, fish, gerbils, hamsters and nonpoisonous snakes as examples. The same definition then draws a hard numeric line: 'more than four dogs or cats over six months of age' is not a household pet, and neither is a goat, pony, horse, sheep, chicken or rooster of any number, more than 10 gerbils or hamsters over two months old, or more than three nonpoisonous snakes.

That matters because 'the keeping of household pets as defined by § 331-4' is listed as a permitted accessory use in essentially every residential and mixed-use zoning district in the City, from the lowest-density single-family districts through the multifamily and mixed-use categories. A household that keeps five or more dogs or cats over six months old is, by definition, no longer engaged in the permitted accessory use of keeping household pets; the Zoning Code does not list a general kennel or animal-boarding use as a permitted accessory use in residential districts, so exceeding the four-animal threshold effectively takes a household outside the zoning code's as-of-right pet allowance.

' The cap is a zoning classification threshold, not a separate licensing or health law; it determines what a property owner may keep at home under the Zoning Code's accessory-use rules rather than setting a public-health permit requirement.