Sedona, AZ Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)
Key Facts
- Kennel threshold
- 5 or more dogs on one property
- Cat limit
- No numeric cap codified
- Per-dog rule
- Each dog over 3 months needs its own license
- Penalty basis
- Enforced under SCC § 1.15.010
- Unlicensed-dog penalty
- $25.00 notice fee, due in 96 hours
Summary
Sedona sets no blanket household pet cap, but SCC § 6.05.020 legally reclassifies any premises keeping five or more dogs as a "kennel." A fifth dog moves a home from ordinary pet-keeping into a regulated kennel use, while cats carry no numeric limit at all under the chapter.
“Kennel” means any premises wherein any person engages in the business of boarding, breeding, buying, letting for hire or selling animals, and in addition means an enclosed, controlled area, inaccessible to other animals, in which a person keeps, harbors or maintains five or more dogs under controlled conditions. ... Any person owning, keeping, harboring or having custody of any dog over three months of age within the city must obtain a license as herein provided.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Initiative Ordinance 2026-01, approved by voters at the July 21, 2026 election).
Full Breakdown
Sedona's animal-control chapter does not set a flat household cap on pets, but it draws a hard line at five dogs. " Because that definition sits in the same chapter as the licensing and restraint rules, a resident keeping five or more dogs on one property is treated as operating a kennel rather than simply owning pets, which pulls the property into a different regulatory category than a typical one-to-four-dog household. Cats are not mentioned in the kennel definition at all, so the code sets no numeric ceiling on how many cats a household may keep.
030(A) requires "any person owning, keeping, harboring or having custody of any dog over three months of age" to obtain a license for that specific dog, so a household with two, three, or four dogs needs a matching number of current annual licenses, each backed by a rabies certificate from a licensed veterinarian. 020 if they bark excessively, damage property, or foul the air.
Violations & Fines
Keeping five or more dogs without complying with kennel-related standards exposes an owner to the general penalty provisions of § 6.05.130, which apply the citywide penalty schedule in SCC § 1.15.010 to any violation of Chapter 6.05. Failing to license even a single dog over three months old can separately draw a $25.00 notice-of-violation penalty under § 6.05.050(J) once an enforcement officer identifies the animal, payable within 96 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a legal limit on how many dogs I can own in Sedona?
Does Sedona limit the number of cats per household?
Do I need a separate license for each dog I own?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sedona
Compare Sedona to another location·View the Arizona animal ordinances overview
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