Sandy, UT Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Sandy City Code § 12-1-7(f) states no more than three dogs, other than an assistance animal or retired assistance animal, may reside at any address in the jurisdiction at a time unless the owner obtains a hobby license, or unless the address is a licensed animal foster home permitted to keep up to four dogs. There's a narrow litter exception: a person may keep puppies born to a female dog in their custody until the puppies reach six months old without triggering the hobby-license requirement.

A violation of the three-dog cap is a Class C misdemeanor, a notably harsher penalty than most infractions in the same chapter. Chapter 12-2 sets the hobby license's actual ceiling: § 12-2-1 allows a dog hobby license holder to keep a maximum of five dogs over one year of age on the licensed premises, and separately allows a horse hobby license for more than four horses on a residential lot in an 'A' designated agricultural zone. Hobby licensees remain required to individually license each cat they own even though the dog-licensing requirement is waived under § 12-1-9(f).

A related trigger sits inside § 12-1-7 itself: at any residence where three dogs are licensed without qualifying under the hobby license, at least one of the three dogs must be spayed or neutered within 60 days of acquiring the third dog, tying the pet-count cap directly to Sandy's sterilization rule.