Walworth County, WI Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Section 74-44(a) sets the county's basic pet-count rule for every zoning district in the towns under Walworth County zoning: household pets are allowed everywhere, but a single premises cannot keep more than four dogs or four cats at once. The subsection also bars breeding or rearing animals on the property for commercial sale, so a household cannot operate as a backyard breeding operation regardless of how many animals it keeps. There is one built-in exception: if a permitted household pet has a litter, the offspring can be kept and sold directly from the property, but only for up to eight months from birth before the four-animal cap has to be honored again.

The same section separately regulates non-household animals: livestock and other animals beyond dogs and cats are confined to agricultural, C-1 and C-2 conservation districts, P-1 and P-2 park districts and the B-5 business district, and any structure housing them must sit at least 100 feet from the side and rear property lines, with larger commercial feedlots and livestock facilities pushed back 100 to 200 feet depending on the number of animal units involved. Because § 74-44 sits inside Chapter 74's zoning ordinance rather than the separate dog-licensing chapter, a violation of the four-pet cap is handled as a zoning matter rather than through the county's dog-licensing enforcement process.