6 rules for unincorporated Guadalupe County, Texas.
Verified from official government sources
Unincorporated Guadalupe County has no zoning and sets no hen limit, and the county animal ordinance does not require poultry to stay on your property. Livestock is another matter: owners must keep animals off the highways, and loose stock can be impounded as estrays.
Tex. Agriculture Code §143.102
A person who owns or has responsibility for the control of a horse, mule, donkey, cow, bull, steer, hog, sheep, or goat may not knowingly permit the animal to traverse or roam at large, unattended, on the right-of-way of a highway.
Unlike many Texas counties, unincorporated Guadalupe County has a countywide restraint rule: its Animal Control Ordinance makes it unlawful to let a dog run at large off the owner's property. Dogs must also be vaccinated for rabies at three months.
Guadalupe County Animal Control Ordinance No. 0001, §5.01
It shall be unlawful for the custodian of any dog whether vaccinated, licensed, or not, to let such an animal run at large. All dogs shall be restrained when they are not on the custodian's property or on private property with the permission of the property owner, or property owner's agent.
Breed-specific bans are illegal in Texas. Guadalupe County and its cities cannot outlaw pit bulls or any other breed; state law bars breed-specific dog regulation. The county's dangerous-dog rules target a dog's behavior, not its breed.
Tex. Health & Safety Code §822.047
A county or municipality may place additional requirements or restrictions on dangerous dogs if the requirements or restrictions: (1) are not specific to one breed or several breeds of dogs; and (2) are more stringent than restrictions provided by this subchapter.
Unincorporated Guadalupe County does not regulate beekeeping. Backyard hives are allowed with no county permit or hive limit. Bees are agriculture in Texas, and keeping them can even qualify land for an agricultural valuation. HOA deed restrictions are the main limit.
Owning a dangerous wild animal, a lion, tiger, bear, cougar, and similar species, requires a state certificate of registration in Texas. Without it, possession is illegal. The county's animal registration agency controls whether these animals can be kept.
Tex. Health & Safety Code §822.103
A person may not own, harbor, or have custody or control of a dangerous wild animal for any purpose unless the person holds a certificate of registration for that animal issued by an animal registration agency.
Unincorporated Guadalupe County does not prohibit feeding wildlife. Feeding deer is legal and common in the ranch country between Seguin and the cities. No county ordinance bans it, though feeding that draws a nuisance or a rabies-vector animal can create liability.
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