Tampa, FL Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Sec. 27, "Animals, in general," governs animal-keeping citywide and imposes no household ceiling on ordinary pets. The definitions in Sec. 27-43 draw the dividing line: a "small kennel" is any lot or premises where animals over six months old are kept, groomed, bred, boarded, trained, and/or sold, classified as a general commercial land use; a "large kennel" is the same activity classified as an intensive commercial use. 26 (large kennel) apply numeric bands: 0 to 10 animals require a minimum 10-foot outdoor pen/run setback from any single-family use, while 11 to 20 (small kennel) or more than 10 (large kennel) require a 15-foot setback from any residential use, with overnight boarding prohibited at the higher small-kennel tier.

Domestic egg-laying chickens are capped separately at 0 to 10 birds with a 15-foot coop setback, added on top of the general animal count. Anyone licensed by the State of Florida to keep other animal types must still meet these kennel standards. The police department is expressly exempted and may keep, harbor and maintain horses within city limits. Because ordinary pet-keeping carries no set maximum, enforcement in practice turns on whether the activity itself, breeding, boarding, grooming, training, selling, triggers the kennel classification, not on a simple headcount of animals in the house.