Animal Ordinances in St. Louis, MO (2026)
10 verified animal ordinances for St. Louis, Missouri, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Chickens & Livestock
St. Louis bans keeping cattle, sheep, goats, hogs and roosters anywhere in the city, treating it as a public nuisance; one neutered or spayed Vietnamese pot-bellied pig per parcel is the sole exception.
St. Louis Backyard Livestock Ban
Heavy RestrictionsSt. Louis Revised Code § 10.20.015(A)
No person shall raise or keep within the City of St. Louis any roosters, Africanized honey bees, Asian Carp or large farm animals. ... The raising of such animals is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the above-specified animals may be raised or kept within biological laboratories, hospitals, slaughterhouses, stockyards, zoological gardens, educational agric...
Dog Leash Laws
St. Louis requires dogs in any public street, park, or public place to be on a secure leash no more than six feet long, held continuously by a person able to control the dog.
St. Louis Dog Leash Law
Some RestrictionsSt. Louis Revised Code § 10.04.220
No person owning, having a proprietary interest in, harboring or having the care, charge, control, custody or possession of a dog, shall permit such dog to be in or upon any public street, park or other public place unless such dog is upon a secure leash not more than six feet long held continuously in the hands of a responsible person capable of controlling the dog, or unless the dog is secure...
Breed Restrictions
St. Louis's Health Commissioner can declare any dog "dangerous" after a documented bite, attack, or prior warning, triggering mandatory registration, $50,000 liability coverage, and muzzle-and-leash rules: the law targets behavior, not breed.
St. Louis Dangerous Dog Declaration Rules
Significant RestrictionsSt. Louis Revised Code § 10.04.270
A. Designation of Dog as Dangerous Dog. The Director of Health or his or her designee may declare an animal a Dangerous Dog if he or she has probable cause to believe that the animal falls within the definition set forth in this chapter. ... B.1. It is unlawful for any person to have a dangerous dog in the City without a certificate of registration issued under this chapter.
Beekeeping
Urban beekeeping is allowed in St. Louis under SLRC 10.12 with registration at the Missouri Department of Agriculture required per RSMo 264.011. Hives must be set back 10 feet from property lines and screened from neighbors.
Animals: Beekeeping
Some RestrictionsRSMo § 264.011
264.011. Title of law. — Sections 264.011 to 264.111 shall be known and may be cited as the "Missouri Apiculture Law".
Exotic Pets
St. Louis prohibits ownership of dangerous wild animals under SLRC 10.16 and RSMo 578.023. Banned species include large cats, bears, primates, venomous snakes, and crocodilians. Violations carry $500 fines and animal seizure.
Animals: Exotic Pets
Heavy RestrictionsRSMo § 578.023
578.023. Keeping a dangerous wild animal — penalty. — 1. A person commits the offense of keeping a dangerous wild animal if he or she keeps any lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, cheetah, margay, mountain lion, Canada lynx, bobcat, jaguarundi, hyena, wolf, bear, nonhuman primate, coyote, any deadly, dangerous, or poisonous reptile, or any deadly or dangerous reptile over eight feet long, in ...
Pet Limits
St. Louis caps residential households at four domestic animals, dogs and cats, before requiring a noncommercial kennel permit from the Health Commissioner for up to eight.
St. Louis Pet Limit: 4 Animals
Some RestrictionsSt. Louis Revised Code § 10.20.011
No person shall keep more than four domestic animals on any parcel of property located within a residentially zoned district, nor shall any person permit or allow more than four domestic animals to be kept or domiciled on any such parcel of property; except that any person may keep more than four domestic animals but no more than eight domestic animals on any parcel of property by obtaining a n...
Cat Rules
St. Louis requires every owned cat to be rabies-vaccinated and registered with a $50 tag, bars cats from running at large, and separately licenses feral cat colonies through Health Department-approved caregiver sponsors under a formal TNR program.
St. Louis Cat Licensing & Feral Colony Rules
Some RestrictionsSt. Louis Revised Code § 10.04.060
Every person who owns any dog, cat, kitten or puppy, whether in a kennel or not, that is kept any time during the year within the City...shall have such dog, cat, kitten or puppy vaccinated against rabies and registered as provided in Section 10.04.070...Ear-tipped feral cats are exempt from the requirements of this section.
Mandatory Spay/Neuter
St. Louis allows only one pot-bellied pig per parcel, and the privilege is conditioned on fixing it: males must be neutered by four weeks old, females spayed by 120 days old.
St. Louis Pot-Bellied Pig Spay/Neuter Rule
Some RestrictionsSt. Louis Revised Code § 10.20.015.B
One pot-bellied pig, per parcel of property, may be kept in the City of St. Louis, provided that males over the age of four (4) weeks (28 days) are neutered and females over the age of one hundred twenty (120) days are spayed. All such animals must be proven purebred lineage, and the owner must be able to produce litter papers to verify pedigree. Pigs over the age of one hundred twenty (120) da...
Microchipping
St. Louis requires dogs declared "Dangerous Dogs" to be spayed or neutered and micro-chipped for identification before the Health Commissioner will issue a certificate of registration, and applies the same requirement to biting or impounded animals before release from the animal regulation center.
St. Louis Dangerous Dog Microchip Rule
Some RestrictionsSt. Louis Revised Code § 10.04.270.B.2.c
The Commissioner of Health of the City shall issue a certificate of registration to the owner/guardian of each dangerous dog if the owner/guardian presents to the animal control unit sufficient evidence of: ... c. Sufficient evidence that such animal has been spayed or neutered and micro-chipped for identification;
Bird Protection
St. Louis bans molesting, injuring, or disturbing small birds and their nests citywide, with sparrows, pigeons, and starlings excepted.
St. Louis Bird Protection Law
Some RestrictionsSt. Louis Revised Code § 10.12.040
All persons are forbidden to molest, injure or disturb in any way any small birds in the City, or the nest, young or brood of any small birds in the City. If any person shall willfully injure, molest, take or disturb in any way any small birds, except sparrows, pigeons and European starlings, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.