6 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Scott County, Minnesota.
Verified from official government sources
Shakopee allows up to six hens with a license and no roosters; Savage and Prior Lake permit backyard hens with coop setbacks. On unincorporated land, Zoning Ordinance No. 3 sets animal numbers by acreage using animal units.
Shakopee, Savage, Prior Lake, and Jordan each require dogs leashed or under control off the owner's property and run their own animal control. Rabies vaccination and city licensing are required; Minnesota's dangerous-dog law (Sec. 347.50 to 347.565) is behavior-based.
Minn. Stat. § 347.50, subd. 2 (2026)
"Dangerous dog" means any dog that has: (1) without provocation, inflicted substantial bodily harm on a human being on public or private property; (2) killed a domestic animal without provocation while off the owner's property; or (3) been found to be potentially dangerous, and after the owner has notice that the dog is potentially dangerous, the dog aggressively bites, attacks, or endangers th...
Minnesota bars cities and counties from regulating dangerous dogs by breed. Under Section 347.51, no breed-specific ordinance is valid, so Shakopee, Savage, Prior Lake, and Scott County regulate dangerous dogs by behavior. No pit bull ban exists here.
Minn. Stat. § 347.51, subd. 8 (2026)
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.
Beekeeping in Scott County is governed by city ordinance, not the state. Minnesota's apiary registration law was repealed in 2006, so there is no statewide hive registration. Prior Lake, Savage, and Shakopee set hive placement and setbacks.
Minnesota bans private possession of "regulated animals" — big cats, bears, and primates — statewide under Section 346.155, on top of local rules. Scott County cities also restrict animals unsuited to residential keeping. Native wildlife is managed by the Minnesota DNR.
Minn. Stat. § 346.155 (2026)
Except as provided in this section, it is unlawful for a person to possess a regulated animal.
Scott County has no blanket ban on feeding wildlife, but feeding deer is discouraged and unsecured food that draws deer or pests can trigger nuisance enforcement. The Minnesota DNR restricts deer feeding in disease-management areas and manages wildlife statewide.
1 cities in Scott County have their own animal ordinances rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
See every category we cover for Scott County — parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.
Scott County Ordinance Hub →