Animal Ordinances in Arkansas (2026)

Arkansas Code 2-38-301, rewritten by Act 594 of 2023, makes it unlawful statewide for any livestock to run at large. An…

Sebastian County Code § 93.35(B) bars livestock, exotic wild animals, and poultry from every county park. The county…

Springdale bans keeping cows, goats, horses, sheep, or other hoofed animals anywhere except on land zoned A-1…

Fayetteville allows female chickens and ducks, no roosters: four on lots up to 5,000 sq ft, scaling to a maximum of 20…

Fort Smith allows up to 20 hens or ducks, no roosters, on lots of at least 21,780 square feet, with coops kept 25 feet…

Jonesboro caps most households at five domestic animals or fowl, chickens included, and keeps horses and cows at least…

Little Rock lets residents keep backyard chickens, rabbits, and other small fowl citywide with no permit, but coops…

Unincorporated Washington County broadly allows chickens, cattle, horses, and other livestock on rural and agricultural…

Fayetteville prohibits dogs and cats from running at large: they must be leashed, in an enclosure, or on a compliant…

Benton County picks up any dog found off its owner's property, whether on a resident complaint, routine patrol, or a…

No dog may run At-Large in unincorporated Faulkner County: every dog must wear a collar or harness with an ID tag plus…

Fort Smith makes it unlawful for a dog or cat to run at large; animals must be leashed and under control whenever…

In unincorporated Garland County, Sec. 10-19 makes it a violation for a dog to run at large without a current county…

Jonesboro prohibits letting a dog run at large anywhere in the city. An owner whose dog is picked up loose must pay an…

Little Rock City Code Sec. 6-16(a) gives dog owners two duties: keep the dog securely confined behind a fence or…

Pulaski County requires dogs and cats in the unincorporated area to stay under restraint: fenced, chained, or leashed…

In the Hot Springs Village area of unincorporated Saline County, dogs may not run at large, and on the development's…

Sebastian County requires every dog and other pet inside a county park to stay on a leash no longer than 15 feet…

Springdale bans letting any dog run at large within city limits and prohibits direct-point chaining, requiring a…

Washington County requires dogs be controlled and not run at large; specific leash rules are set by city ordinance…

Benton County outlaws keeping any dog behaviorally defined as vicious: no breed list exists. A conviction forces the…

Craighead County does not ban breeds by name. Instead § 700.00 regulates any animal, particularly a dog, individually…

Faulkner County has no breed-specific ban; instead it regulates dogs individually designated 'dangerous' or 'vicious'…

In unincorporated Garland County, owners of a 'high risk breed' dog, chiefly pit bull-type gripper breeds, must keep it…

Jonesboro doesn't ban dogs by breed; it declares a dog vicious or dangerous based on behavior. Under Code Section…

Little Rock classifies pit bulls as a potentially dangerous breed and requires an annual permit, microchip, and…

Pulaski County declares dogs "dangerous" or "vicious" by behavior, not breed, then orders tattooing, muzzling, secure…

Within the Hot Springs Village portion of unincorporated Saline County, dogs classified as a "high-risk breed" (pit…

Sebastian County has no breed-specific ban; instead Code § 93.15 lets an animal control or police officer declare any…

Springdale has no breed-specific ban: a dog or other animal is declared 'potentially dangerous' by behavior alone, and…

Washington County does not ban any breed. Instead, a law enforcement officer can declare a specific dog hazardous…

Fayetteville has no breed-specific ban: pit bulls and other breeds are legal. The city regulates dogs by behavior. Any…

The Arkansas Apiary Act gives the State Plant Board exclusive authority to regulate honeybee health, registration, and…

Fayetteville allows backyard beehives under UDC Sec. 164.04: two hives on lots up to 5,000 sq ft, up to four on larger…

Little Rock caps hobby beekeeping at two hives per residential lot and requires 25-foot setbacks from dwellings and…

Beekeeping is allowed across Washington County. Under the Arkansas Apiary Act, Ark. Code 2-22-110, beekeepers must…

Arkansas prohibits private possession of large carnivores, defined as bears, lions, and tigers, acquired after August…

Faulkner County bans keeping innately wild carnivores, non-human primates and venomous reptiles anywhere in the…

Fayetteville bans keeping wild animals as pets: primates, raccoons, skunks, foxes, wolves, coyotes, venomous snakes…

Fort Smith prohibits keeping exotic animals, including primates, big cats, wolves, bears, and dozens of other wild…

Jonesboro bans keeping or harboring a lion anywhere in the city under Code Section 10-11, and separately requires a…

Little Rock Sec. 6-42 makes the sale, possession, maintenance or keeping of carnivora, innately wild animals, nonhuman…

Pulaski County Code § 3-43 bans keeping any "innately wild animal," from big cats and other carnivores to venomous…

Springdale prohibits keeping, maintaining, selling, or possessing poisonous reptiles, snakes, apes, bears, big cats…

Benton County doesn't ban exotic wild animals outright, but every owner of a lion, tiger, bear, cougar, leopard or…

Sebastian County doesn't ban exotic or wild animal ownership outright, but Code § 93.15 defines them and § 93.18…

Washington County does not ban exotic or wild animals outright. Code § 700.01 requires anyone who keeps one in the…

Feeding or baiting deer is illegal throughout Fayetteville, which sits in Arkansas's CWD Management Zone. State Game &…

Fort Smith prohibits leaving unattended food out for stray dogs and cats, deer, geese, ducks, raccoons, or other…

Keeping more than four dogs over five months old in Fort Smith is prima facie evidence of operating a kennel…

Jonesboro caps a household at five dogs over three months old under Code Section 10-45. Finding more than five dogs on…

Keeping animals on a property that becomes unclean, odorous, or fecal-fouled is a separate violation from Little Rock's…

In Springdale, Arkansas, keeping more than five pets over four months old on one property makes it an 'animal shelter…

Faulkner County requires every cat over three months old to carry a current rabies vaccination administered by an…

Little Rock caps households at four cats, requires an annual license and rabies tag for every cat, and mandates…

Fort Smith requires pet dogs and cats past reproductive age to be spayed or neutered unless the animal stays leashed or…

Jonesboro does not require spay/neuter for pets generally, but once animal control designates a dog dangerous, the…

Little Rock requires every free-roaming cat to be sterilized, with a narrow exception for cats a licensed vet certifies…

Once the Saline County District Court declares a dog vicious or a nuisance under the Hot Springs Village animal-control…

Springdale has no citywide mandatory spay/neuter law, but any dog or other animal formally designated 'potentially…

Washington County runs a voucher-based spay/neuter program under Code § 700.02 rather than a blanket sterilization…

Little Rock requires owners of free-roaming cats to have them microchipped and registered with a national recovery…

Fort Smith bans casual animal sales citywide but exempts licensed pet stores, kennels, breeders, and shelters operating…

Springdale does not ban retail pet sales or require adoption-only stores: instead it conditions a pet shop's business…

Little Rock does not ban retail sale of dogs or cats. Sec. 6-47 lets any licensed pet shop sell live animals as pets…

Little Rock regulates pet grooming businesses as "kennels" under Sec. 6-46, requiring compliance with facility…

Little Rock's zoning code files a veterinary practice under the term "animal clinic (enclosed)" and where one can open…