10 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Hamilton County, Indiana.
Verified from official government sources
Carmel allows up to six hens on a residential lot if they are kept in a coop or chicken tractor meeting setbacks. More than six hens, or any rooster, reclassifies the property as a Farm. Rules vary by city; unincorporated county land follows zoning.
Carmel UDO Section 5.02
Up to six (6) hens shall be permitted, provided they are confined by a chicken tractor, chicken coop, or similar Accessory Building subject to the setbacks prescribed in Section 5.02(B)(1): Minimum Lot Standards. Properties with more than six (6) hens, or with any rooster, shall be considered a Farm.
Indiana requires owners to reasonably restrain dogs; letting a dog stray off your premises is an infraction, and failing to restrain a dog that then bites is a crime. Fishers and Carmel city codes require direct control by leash or fence.
IC 15-20-1-4
The owner of a dog commits a Class C misdemeanor if: (1) the owner recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally fails to take reasonable steps to restrain the dog; (2) the dog enters property other than the property of the dog's owner; and (3) as the result of the owner's failure to restrain the dog, the dog bites or attacks another person without provocation.
No. Neither Hamilton County nor its cities (Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, Noblesville) ban specific breeds like pit bulls. Regulation is behavior-based: any dog that attacks, bites or shows a propensity to do so is regulated as a dangerous animal regardless of breed.
Fishers Code § 91.02
DANGEROUS ANIMAL. Any animal that attacks, bites or injures human beings, pets, companion animals or livestock or which, because of temperament, conditioning, or training, has a known propensity to attack, bite or injure human beings.
Carmel allows personal (non-agricultural) beekeeping on property you own, rent or lease, with hive placement setbacks: no hive forward of the home or within 300 feet of a front lot line, 15 feet from a side line, and 20 feet from a rear line.
Carmel UDO (Beekeeping)
Beekeeping for purposes of personal use and not for agricultural use shall be permitted on property in the City that the person owns, rents, or leases. No hives may be located forward of the Front Line of the Principal Building, or within 300' of a front lot line. Hives located on the ground shall be located a minimum of 15 feet from a side lot line and a minimum of 20 feet from a rear lot line.
Fishers' animal code does not regulate wild or exotic animals; it defers to the State of Indiana under 312 IAC Article 9. Indiana requires a Wild Animal Possession Permit (IC 14-22-26) from the DNR for dangerous wild animals like big cats, bears and venomous reptiles.
Fishers Code § 91.02
This chapter is not intended to regulate wild and or exotic animal. Regulation of wild and or exotic animals is governed through the State of Indiana, 312 IAC, Article 9, Fish and Wildlife.
Neither Hamilton County nor its cities publish a general ordinance banning residents from feeding deer or other wildlife; the topic is handled by the Indiana DNR. Attracting nuisance wildlife can still trigger local nuisance enforcement, and DNR rules govern deer and wild-animal handling.
Carmel makes it unlawful to keep cows, swine, chickens, horses, sheep, goats or ducks within the City on any lot smaller than three acres, except in an Agricultural District. Unincorporated Hamilton County land follows county zoning and Indiana right-to-farm protections.
Carmel City Code Ch. 6 (Animal Regulations)
It shall be unlawful for any person to maintain cows, swine, chickens, horses, sheep, goats, or ducks within the limits of the City in any area consisting of less than three (3) acres, except in an Agricultural District.
Carmel bars backyard breeding and puppy mills and requires every animal to have adequate space, food, water, shelter and veterinary care. Keeping animals in overcrowded or neglectful conditions is enforced through these care standards and state animal-cruelty law.
Carmel City Code § 6-99
Backyard Breeding and/or Puppy Mills shall not be permitted.
Neither Carmel nor Fishers sets a simple numeric cap on household dogs or cats. Instead, keeping many animals is controlled through kennel licensing, nuisance rules, and minimum care and space standards. Owning enough animals to operate a kennel or create a nuisance triggers regulation.
Fishers requires every dog and cat owned in the city to carry permanent identification at all times, by microchip or a durable collar tag showing the owner's name and phone number, so lost pets can be quickly reunited with owners. The rule applies to animals three months and older.
Fishers Code § 91.04
A person who owns a dog or cat in the city shall ensure that each dog or cat owned by that person bears a permanent means of identification at all times, such that the owner of a lost or stolen dog or cat can be ascertained quickly and easily.
1 cities in Hamilton County have their own animal ordinances rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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