10 rules for unincorporated Dakota County, Minnesota.
Verified from official government sources
Dakota County sets no countywide backyard-chicken rule. Keeping hens or livestock is regulated by each city — Lakeville, Eagan, Farmington, Rosemount and Burnsville allow limited hens with permits and setbacks. Check your city's animal-keeping code before getting chickens.
In Dakota County Parks, dogs must be on a static (non-retractable) leash no more than six feet long, except in designated off-leash areas. Away from county parks, leash-at-large rules are set by your city or township, not the county.
Dakota County Ordinance No. 107, Section 4.6
It shall be unlawful for any person owning or having control or custody of any pet to bring a pet into or have a pet in a County Park without it being caged or under physical control on a static leash no more than six (6) feet in length, except in areas designated for off-leash.
Breed-specific bans are illegal in Minnesota. Under Minn. Stat. 347.51, subd. 8, no city or county may regulate dangerous or potentially dangerous dogs based solely on breed, and any such ordinance is void. Dakota County has no breed ban.
Minn. Stat. 347.51, subd. 8
A statutory or home rule charter city, or a county, may not adopt an ordinance regulating dangerous or potentially dangerous dogs based solely on the specific breed of the dog. Ordinances inconsistent with this subdivision are void.
Dakota County has no countywide beekeeping ordinance; hive rules are set by your city. Many Dakota County cities restrict beekeeping to agricultural-zoned land or require a permit, hive setbacks, and a flyway barrier. Check your city code before keeping bees.
Minnesota bans private possession of regulated dangerous animals — big cats, bears, and most non-human primates — under Minn. Stat. 346.155. Additional exotic-pet limits are set by your city. Dakota County itself does not license exotic pets.
In Dakota County parks it is unlawful to feed or otherwise disturb wildlife under Park Ordinance 107, Section 5.4. Off park land, deer and other wildlife-feeding limits are set by your city and by Minnesota DNR rules; the county has no general residential feeding ban.
Dakota County Ordinance No. 107, Section 5.4
To protect wildlife and their habitat, it shall be unlawful, when in a County Park, for any person to kill, trap, hunt, injure, pursue, feed, or in any manner disturb or cause to be disturbed any animals and/or species of wildlife, except fishing or hunting pursuant to State game and fish laws.
Dakota County does not set residential livestock limits; keeping horses, goats, cattle or other farm animals is governed by your city's zoning, which generally restricts livestock to agriculturally zoned or large lots. Feedlots also follow state MPCA and Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture rules.
Animal hoarding is addressed through Minnesota's animal-cruelty and mistreatment laws (Minn. Stat. 343.21) and city pet-number limits and kennel licensing. Dakota County has no standalone hoarding ordinance, but neglect, overcrowding, and unsanitary conditions can trigger seizure and criminal charges.
Dakota County sets no household pet-number limit. Caps on how many dogs or cats you may keep are set by each city's animal ordinance. County parks separately limit dogs to two per owner in the off-leash dog park.
Minnesota requires rabies control for cats, and Dakota County parks require pets under control. Cat licensing, at-large, and number limits are set by your city — several Dakota County cities license cats and prohibit cats running at large. The county sets no citywide cat ordinance.
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