Pontiac, MI Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Section 18-46, Limitation on number, opens Article II's dog-specific rules in Chapter 18 with a flat numeric cap: no person may keep more than three dogs of the age of six months or over on any one property in the city, except in conjunction with and at the premises of a duly licensed kennel or veterinary hospital. Puppies under six months are not counted toward the limit, so a litter born on the property does not itself put an owner over the cap until the puppies mature.

The section derives from § 6-43 of the 1985 Code and was last amended by Ordinance No. 2396 on July 12, 2022. It sits alongside related dog rules in the same article: § 18-52 restricts where kennels, houses, yards, pens, coops or runs may sit on a lot, and § 18-53 defines and bans keeping a dangerous dog. Because § 18-46 states no penalty of its own, the Code's general penalty clause, § 1-25, applies: a fine of up to $500.00, imprisonment for up to 90 days in the city or county jail, or both, at the court's discretion, with a repeat-offense floor of at least $500.00 and/or 90 days imprisonment under § 1-25(b) for a second conviction of the same violation. Enforcement runs through the Pontiac Police Department under § 18-2, with Oakland County Animal Control assisting citywide.