Animal Ordinances in Massachusetts (2026)

Massachusetts law directs every town field driver to take up horses, mules, asses, neat cattle, sheep, goats, or swine…

Boston prohibits traditional livestock (cows, pigs, goats, sheep, horses) on residential lots. Only hens and bees are…

Cambridge prohibits traditional livestock (cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, horses) in all zoning districts; only urban hens…

Lowell City Code Section 104-34 flatly prohibits keeping animals or fowl within the city limits except licensed…

Traditional livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, sheep, and pigs are not permitted on residential lots in…

Revere Municipal Code Section 6.02.010 bans keeping any chicken, rooster, duck, goose or fowl in the city, with fines…

Springfield bars keeping livestock animals, cattle, poultry, swine, and similar farm animals, on private property…

Leominster's zoning table of uses treats backyard poultry as a residential accessory use capped at ten birds. City Code…

Lynn allows up to six hens per lot as one of only two agricultural animals the city permits, but roosters are banned…

New Bedford caps backyard poultry and animals at one head per 1,000 square feet of net lot area under the zoning…

Backyard chickens are allowed subject to each town's zoning bylaw. MGL c.40A §3 bars towns from zoning out commercial…

State law requires dogs be effectively controlled or restrained, with municipalities authorized to enact local leash…

Attleboro requires dogs to be restrained with a leash at all times when off the owner's property under city ordinance…

Fall River requires dogs to be on a leash no more than 6 feet long or confined to a fenced area when off the owner's…

Lynn prohibits any dog from running at large; dogs must be indoors, in a safely enclosed yard, or on a leash. Dogs are…

Dogs in Somerville must be leashed in all public areas except designated off-leash dog parks, with fines for violations…

Worcester requires dogs to be leashed or under control of the owner at all times when off the owner's property under…

Boston requires dogs under control at all times (MGL c.140 §157). Dog licensing required through city/town clerk (MGL…

Dog leash laws in Bristol County are enforced at the municipal level under MGL Ch. 140. Most towns require dogs to be…

Brockton requires every dog to be under restraint at all times on public property, defined as a leash of six feet or…

Brookline requires dogs to be leashed or under voice control in public. Dogs in designated off-leash parks may be…

Cambridge bars dogs from running at large off their owner's property, and any dog off the owner's or a consenting…

Chelsea requires every dog owner to keep their dog under restraint whenever it is off the owner's property, per Code of…

A dog in any public place in Lawrence, including city and state property within the city, must be on a lead or chain…

Leominster requires every dog outside its owner's property to be held on a leash or chain no more than six feet long…

All dogs in Lowell must be leashed when off the owner's property. Off-leash is permitted only at designated dog parks…

New Bedford bars dogs from any street or public place unless restrained on a chain or leash no longer than seven feet…

Norfolk County has no county-level leash law. Dog leash requirements are set by each municipality under MGL c. 140…

Leash rules are set by each Plymouth County town under authority of MGL c.140 §173. Statewide, MGL c.140 §155 makes a…

Quincy, Massachusetts (Norfolk County) bars owners from letting animals go at large off a leash, cord, or chain, or…

Revere requires dogs under control at all times (MGL c.140 §157). Dog licensing required through city/town clerk (MGL…

Springfield, Massachusetts requires dogs to be on a leash no longer than six feet in public, unless the dog is inside a…

Taunton requires every dog to be under leash or direct control whenever it leaves its owner's property, on someone…

Weymouth Code §6-700 requires dogs to be on a leash not exceeding 6 feet when off the owner's property. Dogs are…

Massachusetts state law expressly preempts municipalities from regulating dogs based on breed. Local breed-specific…

Chelsea bans dangerous dogs from the city outright unless the police chief has ordered specific restraint conditions…

Brockton has no breed-based dog ban; instead, City Code Section 3-11 lets the chief of police, a mayor-appointed…

Fall River doesn't restrict dogs by breed, state law bars that, but a dog individually declared dangerous or vicious…

Lawrence's ordinance targets behavior, not breed: a dog is 'dangerous or vicious' under § 6.04.160 if it has a history…

Leominster does not restrict dogs by breed; instead Sections 6-2.1 and 6-2.2 regulate individually declared dangerous…

New Bedford has no breed ban; instead an animal control officer can declare any individual dog dangerous or vicious…

Taunton does not regulate dogs by breed; instead City Code Section 191-6 targets dogs of fierce, dangerous or vicious…

Attleboro does not impose breed-specific legislation. The city enforces dangerous dog provisions under its ordinance…

Bristol County does not impose county-level breed restrictions. Massachusetts has no statewide breed ban preemption…

Springfield, Massachusetts bars its Advisory and Hearing Committee from declaring any dog dangerous based on breed or…

Boston runs no breed-specific ban. Under Code § 16-1.9B.2, a dog cannot be deemed dangerous "based upon the breed of…

Brookline has no breed-specific legislation. Massachusetts does not permit BSL under state law. Dangerous dog…

Cambridge does not impose breed-specific restrictions; Massachusetts General Law Chapter 140 Section 157A prohibits…

No Lowell ordinance restricts dogs by breed, and breed-specific regulation is barred statewide: both Lowell Code…

Newton does not impose breed-specific bans because Massachusetts state law MGL c.140 s.157A prohibits municipalities…

Somerville does not impose breed-specific legislation because Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 140 Section 157A…

Weymouth does not have breed-specific legislation. Massachusetts prohibits BSL under state law. Dangerous dog…

Worcester does not enforce breed-specific legislation. Massachusetts law regulates dogs based on individual behavior…

Massachusetts authorizes its chief apiary inspector to require registration of every bee colony kept in the…

Somerville caps residential beekeeping at two colonies per lot and requires a Board of Health permit, $50 the first…

Boston lets residents keep honey bees but requires $25 registration with Inspectional Services under Code § 16-1.27…

Cambridge allows backyard beekeeping as a zoning accessory use, but keepers need a Cambridge Public Health Department…

Lynn permits honeybee hives as one of only two agricultural animals allowed in the city, but every hive needs a permit…

New Bedford restricts residential beehives to Residence A or B zoning districts, requires a 15-foot buffer of unbuilt…

Revere allows honey bees on residential lots, but caps each property at two colonies, limits any freestanding hive to…

Beekeeping is allowed across Plymouth County. Massachusetts registers hives through the state, and MGL c.128 §32 caps…

Massachusetts prohibits private possession of most exotic and wild animals statewide. MassWildlife regulates permits…

Massachusetts prohibits most wild and exotic animals as pets under 321 CMR 9.01. MassWildlife does not issue pet…

Exotic pets in Massachusetts regulated under 321 CMR 9.01 (MassWildlife exemption list). Most wild animals are…

Fall River bars keeping any wild animal, reptile, or snake within city limits except under conditions set by the animal…

Massachusetts bans private possession of most wild and exotic animals without a MassWildlife license (321 CMR 9.00). In…

Massachusetts bans keeping most wild and exotic animals without a state license. Under MGL c.131 §23, propagating or…

Exotic pets in Massachusetts regulated under 321 CMR 9.01. Most wild animals prohibited without a license; MassWildlife…

Exotic pets are governed primarily by Massachusetts state law, which bans most wild and dangerous species; Somerville…

Springfield bars keeping any wild, wild-domestic hybrid, or vicious animal as a pet, for display, or exhibition, with…

Chelsea bars feeding pigeons and wild birds on any public property and restricts feeding them on private property once…

Fall River bans feeding wild birds in any open space, public or private, citywide. The only exception is a device on…

Leominster prohibits feeding or baiting waterfowl and gulls anywhere in the city, with narrow exceptions for licensed…

Revere Municipal Code Section 6.03.010 bars feeding, baiting, or leaving food that attracts wild animals or birds…

Worcester bans feeding or baiting gulls and any waterfowl, including ducks, geese and swans, anywhere in the city…

Quincy, Massachusetts (Norfolk County) bans feeding or baiting ducks, geese, swans, and other waterfowl in posted areas…

Springfield prohibits feeding wild animals or unsterilized feral, stray, or community cats whenever the feeding creates…

Animal cruelty including hoarding is criminalized statewide under M.G.L. Chapter 272 Section 77. Hoarding triggers…

Taunton treats any lot with three or more dogs as a kennel under City Code Section 191-8, requiring a Municipal Council…

Brockton caps household dog-keeping at four: Section 3-5(i) states flatly that "no person shall keep or control more…

Keeping more than four dogs three months or older on one property makes it a City-licensed kennel in Fall River…

Lawrence's animal control chapter caps residential dog-keeping at three animals per premises: keep a fourth dog three…

New Bedford defines any household keeping more than three dogs over three months old as a kennel, and the city won't…

Springfield, Massachusetts caps most households at three dogs, four if every dog in the home is sterilized, before the…

Lowell sets no numeric per-household limit on the number of dogs or cats a resident may keep; instead, every dog over…

Springfield, Massachusetts exempts sterilized cats from its public-restraint rule but fines the owner of a…

Brockton has no separate cat-licensing ordinance: City Code Section 3-3(a) applies the state's dog and cat control…

New Bedford has no blanket spay/neuter law, but once the animal control officer formally deems a dog "dangerous or…

Brockton does not require every pet to be spayed or neutered, but two rules force it in specific cases. Section 3-10…

Lawrence's animal shelter cannot release an unclaimed dog or cat for adoption without either proof of sterilization or…

Owners of an unaltered dog or cat over six months caught at large in Springfield, Massachusetts face a $100 fine unless…

Brockton does not require microchips for ordinary pets, but every guard dog must be implanted with one at the owner's…

A dog or cat caught at large three times in Springfield, Massachusetts must be surgically sterilized and microchipped…

No pet shop in Boston may sell, deliver, barter, auction or otherwise transfer a dog, cat, guinea pig or rabbit under…

Cambridge pet shops cannot sell commercially-bred dogs, cats or other animals; Municipal Code § 6.20.020 lets them…

Springfield bars pet shops from selling dogs, cats, or rabbits, allowing only adoption displays for shelters and…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance does not ban pet stores from selling live animals or require adoption-only sales. Under…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance Table 3.1.16 blocks new construction for pet grooming businesses in the Neighborhood…

Grooming shops in Springfield, Massachusetts need an annual Animal Control permit, issued after inspection, with the…

A veterinary hospital, animal hospital or pet shop cannot open by right anywhere in Brockton. Zoning Ordinance §…

Cambridge's Zoning Ordinance treats a vet clinic as an "Animal Services Facility," a category of Retail or Consumer…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance bars new construction for veterinary offices in the Neighborhood Residence district and…

Newton allows veterinary hospitals by right in its Business 1 through 4 districts and Mixed Use 2, requires a special…

Springfield's zoning ordinance defines veterinary clinics as outpatient animal-care facilities and bars outdoor dog…

Revere Municipal Code Section 6.03.020 permits feeding songbirds and other backyard birds on private property, but only…

Somerville bans feeding birds on any sidewalk, street, park, or other public property under City Code Sec. 3-3(b). The…

Lawrence's municipal code makes it unlawful to stone or otherwise molest squirrels, doves or other pet creatures within…