Texas City, TX Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Section 95.027 of the Texas City Code of Ordinances caps dogs at four. It is unlawful for any person to keep, harbor, possess or maintain more than four dogs upon or within any premises owned by such person within the city at any one time. The four verbs are deliberate: keeping, harboring, possessing and maintaining together reach a dog the person raises, a stray taken in and a dog held for someone else. The section counts dogs only. It names no number for cats. The City Commission adopted the cap for the municipality of Texas City in Galveston County, and it applies at any one time, so a temporary overlap counts the same as a permanent household. As printed, the section speaks of premises owned by such person.

The cap is only the first layer of Chapter 95. Each dog and cat four months of age or older must be immunized against rabies under § 95.016(A), and under § 95.017 each animal needs its own durable tag, purchased for $10 through the Galveston County Animal Resource Center. Section 95.002 requires that tag to be securely attached to a collar or harness around the neck at all times. Section 95.023 bars any dog from running at large, and § 95.025 makes it a misdemeanor to keep a dog whose loud or unusual barking or howling disturbs the neighborhood or adjacent occupants.

Housing rules scale with the number of dogs. Section 95.028(C) requires any dog confined within a fenced yard to have adequate exercise space based on a dimension of at least 150 square feet per dog. Where dogs are kept or housed on property without a fenced yard, the owner or custodian must provide an enclosure meeting the 150 square foot per dog dimensions, built of chain link or similar material with all four sides enclosed and a covered top. Section 95.028 also bars tying or chaining dogs. City animal control officers have the duty under § 95.020 to impound dogs found in violation of the subchapter.