Rochester, NY Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

City Code § 31-11(A) sets the City's dog-density rule: no one may own, harbor or keep more than four dogs over four months of age on a premises containing three or fewer dwelling units, or more than one such dog per dwelling unit in a building with four or more units. The distinction matters for anyone in a duplex or triplex versus an apartment building, since the same owner in a fourplex is held to a single dog per unit rather than four for the whole building.

The section carves out pet shops, veterinary hospitals and kennels, but only when those uses are 'established in accordance with the Zoning Code,' meaning they must already hold the zoning approval Chapter 120 requires for that use in that district; a home operator can't claim the exception just by calling itself a kennel. Subsection B grandfathers dogs licensed before April 1, 1993 and kept at a single dwelling unit, but that grandfathering is personal to those specific dogs: an owner cannot replace or add a dog once doing so would push the household over the current limit.

Subsection C makes clear landlords and property owners remain free to impose a tighter cap or ban dogs outright; the ordinance sets a ceiling, not a floor.