Animal Ordinances in Minnesota (2026)

Minnesota Statutes section 346.16 makes it unlawful for the owner or keeper of cattle, horses, asses, mules, sheep…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, § 91.06(D)(1)(b) prohibits farm poultry and farm animals unless they are on…

In the City of Brooklyn Park, keeping chickens or other domestic fowl anywhere in the city is declared a public…

Coon Rapids caps domesticated birds at six per property, bans roosters, and requires a Community Development Director…

In the City of Eden Prairie, keeping chickens requires City registration under Code Section 9.74, is limited to the…

Minneapolis requires a tiered MACC permit to keep chickens or other fowl, caps residential flocks, bans roosters…

In the R-1, R-2 and RSD districts of unincorporated Olmsted County, keeping chickens requires a Zoning Certificate, and…

Rochester allows up to three hen chickens per property with a city permit, no roosters ever, and up to twelve hens if…

In Anoka County's cities, livestock like horses, cattle, goats, and pigs are restricted to agricultural or large-lot…

In the City of Blaine, the Single-Family (R-1) and Residential Estate zoning codes allow up to six hen chickens, and no…

Blue Earth County Code Sec. 6-61 requires a county feedlot permit for any new poultry or livestock operation reaching…

Carver County caps backyard fowl and livestock by lot size in the Agriculture District. Lots under 1.5 acres get ten or…

In the City of Duluth, keeping backyard chickens requires an annual city clerk license outside the Rural-Conservation…

In the City of Eagan, keeping chickens outside agricultural zoning requires a permit from the city clerk under City…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, keeping backyard chickens requires an administrative permit under City Code…

Maple Grove counts chickens and livestock in animal units. In the R-A district, parcels under ten acres are capped at…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, chickens are farm animals under section 925.115 of the City…

In the City of Plymouth, keeping chickens requires a Chicken License from the City, and it is only issued for the…

Any hoofed animal, horses, goats, sheep, pigs and similar livestock, needs a city permit before it can be kept anywhere…

St. Louis County regulates chickens and livestock through an animal-unit table in Zoning Ordinance 62. Chickens count…

Stearns County's zoning ordinance sets acreage-based limits on chickens and other livestock outside cities. In the…

In unincorporated Washington County, any accessory structure that shelters chickens, goats, cattle or other domestic…

Woodbury allows up to six chicken-hens on lots of 3.99 acres or less, and two per acre on larger lots, in the R-1 and…

City Code § 14-106 requires every dog owner in Blaine to keep the dog under restraint at all times, meaning under…

Anoka County's park ordinance requires every dog and other pet to stay on a leash unless the animal is inside a…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, § 91.17 bans dogs running at large at any time, except inside a city-designated…

In the City of Brooklyn Park, no dog may run at large: § 92.03 requires every dog on a street, public park, school…

Carver County requires dogs, cats, and other pets to be caged or kept on a leash no more than six feet long and under…

It's unlawful in the City of Coon Rapids for any owner to let a dog run at large, meaning off the owner's property and…

In Dakota County Parks, dogs must be on a static (non-retractable) leash no more than six feet long, except in…

Duluth Legislative Code Section 6-36 bars any animal, including dogs, from running at large within the city. An animal…

In the City of Eagan, a dog, cat, or ferret must stay on a leash or chain whenever it is off the owner's property and…

In the City of Eden Prairie, City Code Section 9.07 makes it unlawful for a dog owner to let the animal off the owner's…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, no owner may let a dog run at large; on any city park, street, trail or sidewalk a…

Maple Grove, Minnesota bars dogs and cats from running at large, requiring owners keep pets under restraint: leashed to…

Minneapolis dogs must be leashed or fenced everywhere except designated off-leash areas, under Code of Ordinances §…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, a dog off its owner's property must be under restraint: inside a…

Olmsted County has not adopted a county-wide leash ordinance for ordinary dogs, but the new Olmsted County Dangerous…

In the City of Plymouth, no owner may let a dog run At Large, and every dog or cat must be kept Under Restraint at all…

Ramsey County has no countywide animal-control ordinance. Each city sets its own leash law. In St. Paul (the county…

Rochester bars any dog from running at large anywhere in the city, and in an on-leash area the leash, chain or cable…

Saint Paul dogs must be effectively restrained, inside a fence or on a leash no longer than six feet, anywhere in…

Shakopee, Savage, Prior Lake, and Jordan each require dogs leashed or under control off the owner's property and run…

St. Louis County's Mesabi Trail Ordinance (No. 56) bans bringing a pet onto the trail unless it's on a leash no longer…

Pets on Stearns County recreational trails must be attended and on a leash no longer than six feet under Ordinance 594…

Dogs and other pets in Washington County parks must be caged or kept on a leash no longer than 12 feet, connected to…

Woodbury bans letting any animal run at large beyond its owner's property or on public streets and sidewalks under City…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, dogs are regulated by conduct, not breed. A police officer, community service…

Blaine has no breed-specific ban; instead it adopts Minnesota's dangerous-dog statutes, M.S.A. §§ 347.50-347.57, by…

Brooklyn Park does not ban dogs by breed. Instead, City Code § 92.26 regulates any dog formally declared dangerous…

Carver County does not ban dog breeds; it regulates individual dogs designated dangerous or potentially dangerous after…

Coon Rapids does not ban dogs by breed. City Code § 6-102(2) and (6) define a Dangerous Dog and a Potentially Dangerous…

Duluth does not regulate dogs by breed; instead, Duluth Legislative Code Section 6-93 lets the animal control authority…

Eagan does not restrict dogs by breed. Instead, Eagan City Code § 10.11, Subd. 7 adopts Minnesota's dangerous dog…

Lakeville has no breed-specific ban; instead, City Code section 5-1-9(B) lets a police officer or animal control…

Maple Grove has no breed-specific dog ban, state law forbids it, but the police chief can declare any dog or animal…

Plymouth does not restrict dogs by breed. Instead, City Code Section 915.25 lets the City's Designated Hearing Officer…

Rochester has no breed ban; it instead adopts Minnesota's dangerous-dog statute by reference, expands the definition of…

Saint Paul has no dog-breed ban. Legislative Code Sec. 200.01 defines 'dangerous animal' and 'potentially dangerous…

Minnesota law bars cities and counties from banning or regulating dogs based solely on breed. No pit-bull or breed ban…

Minnesota preempts local breed-specific legislation. Under Minn. Stat. §347.51 subd. 8, cities may not regulate dogs…

Breed-specific bans are illegal in Minnesota. Under Minn. Stat. 347.51, subd. 8, no city or county may regulate…

Eden Prairie has no breed-specific ban; instead, City Code Section 9.07, Subd. 21 lets the Chief of Police determine…

Neither Ramsey County nor Minnesota bans any dog breed. State law regulates individual dogs by behavior under the…

Minnesota bars cities and counties from regulating dangerous dogs by breed. Under Section 347.51, no breed-specific…

Minneapolis has no breed-specific dog ordinance; MACC designates animals "potentially dangerous" or "dangerous" based…

Minnesota preempts breed bans. No Wright County city, Buffalo, Monticello, St. Michael, or Albertville, may outlaw a…

Minnesota keeps honey bees under a hands-off regime. Section 17.445 directs the Department of Agriculture to inspect…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, the animal chapter names bees in its definition of FARM ANIMAL, and §…

Maple Grove, Minnesota outright bans keeping honeybees in every R-1 through R-5 residential zoning district, leaving…

Coon Rapids requires a Community Development Director permit before keeping bees, bans hives in front yards, and scales…

In the City of Eden Prairie, keeping honey bees requires a current registration from the Eden Prairie Police Department…

Woodbury classifies bees as livestock, not a domesticated pet, under City Code Sec. 5-16. Sec. 5-17 confines…

Beekeeping is allowed in Bloomington with conditions: hives under 25 ft from a property line need a 6-ft flyway…

City Code § 92.52 requires anyone keeping honeybee hives in Brooklyn Park to hold an approved registration, and § 92.54…

In the City of Duluth, keeping honeybees needs an annual city clerk license outside the Rural-Conservation and…

Backyard beekeeping in the City of Eagan requires a city permit under City Code § 10.12, Subd. 9 unless the property is…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, honey bees and apiaries were newly authorized by Ordinance 1126, adopted August 3…

Keeping honeybees anywhere in Minneapolis requires an MACC permit, neighbor notification, and compliance with colony…

In the City of Plymouth, keeping bees requires a Beekeeping License, available only for RSF-1, RSF-2, RSF-3, and…

Saint Paul requires a permit before anyone keeps a beehive in the city. Legislative Code § 198.02(e) states flatly that…

Minnesota Statute 346.155 prohibits private possession of regulated animals including big cats, bears, and non-human…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, § 91.06(D) bans skunks, large cats, wolves and other Canidae, wolf and coyote…

In the City of Blaine, keeping a wild or exotic animal as a pet is illegal under City Code § 14-217. The ordinance bans…

Keeping a wolf, bear, cougar, skunk, lynx, bobcat, fox, or any other wild animal or wild crossbreed that can threaten…

Coon Rapids bans keeping non-domestic animals such as big cats, wolves and wolf-dog crosses, venomous or constricting…

Duluth Legislative Code Section 6-73 bans owning, possessing or keeping any nondomesticated animal as a pet within the…

City Code Section 9.07, Subd. 18 bars keeping, maintaining or harboring wild or non-domesticated animals in the City of…

Minnesota Statutes 346.155 ban private ownership of regulated exotic animals such as big cats, bears, and most…

City Code section 5-1-19 bars anyone in the City of Lakeville, Minnesota from keeping wild cats, wild canines, wolf-dog…

Maple Grove city code prohibits keeping or maintaining any wild or exotic animal anywhere within city limits, with only…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, section 925.095 bars keeping, owning, harboring or possessing a…

In the City of Plymouth, City Code Section 915.29 bans keeping any Wild Animal anywhere in the City unless the keeper…

Rochester bans keeping wild animals within city limits, naming big cats, wolf hybrids, venomous snakes, raccoons, bears…

Saint Paul bans keeping wolves, coyotes, jackals and any dog-wolf or dog-coyote crossbreed, every skunk and raccoon…

Minnesota bans private possession of "regulated animals", big cats, bears, and primates, statewide under Section…

Woodbury bans keeping non-domestic animals within city limits entirely. City Code Sec. 5-50 prohibits owning, caring…

Wright County cities and Minnesota state law restrict dangerous exotic animals. Under section 346.155, keeping a big…

Minneapolis bars keeping any wild, exotic, dangerous, or non-domestic animal or reptile citywide without a permit from…

Stearns County allows Regulated Animals, the dangerous wild species defined by Minnesota Statutes section 346.155, only…

Minnesota Statute 97B.106 restricts deer feeding statewide in counties affected by chronic wasting disease and bovine…

In the City of Duluth, feeding wild deer is banned everywhere, on public land and on your own property, under Duluth…

Saint Paul bans intentionally feeding deer anywhere in the city under Legislative Code Sec. 201.01. The ban covers…

Anoka County bans feeding any wildlife in a county park unless the Director or designee gives permission first, and…

In the City of Blaine, feeding wild or feral animals and small mammals anywhere in the city is illegal under City Code…

City Code § 92.40 bars placing grain, salt licks, bird feed or other food near ground level anywhere it could…

In the City of Coon Rapids, City Code § 10-404(2) bars anyone from purposely or knowingly feeding wildlife or…

Maple Grove makes it unlawful to feed wild animals anywhere in the city, defining feeding as putting out a cubic foot…

In Dakota County parks it is unlawful to feed or otherwise disturb wildlife under Park Ordinance 107, Section 5.4. Off…

Minneapolis bans leaving food, garbage or rubbish anywhere it could feed rats, and requires wild bird feeders to sit at…

Chapter V, Section 2(b) of Washington County's Parks Ordinance No. 218 makes it unlawful to feed any wildlife or feral…

In the City of Minnetonka, Minnesota (Hennepin County), wild animals including birds cannot be fed in any city park…

Minnesota Statute 343.21 establishes statewide animal cruelty offenses including overworking, depriving food or water…

Hennepin County Public Health and HCSO investigate animal hoarding under Minnesota cruelty statutes 343.21 and city…

Minneapolis treats animal hoarding as cruelty and unsanitary keeping of animals under Title 5 and Minnesota Statute…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, a household can keep no more than two dogs, or five cats, or…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, no person can keep more than three service animals, or more than three each of…

Blaine has no flat cap on household pets, but City Code § 14-1 defines keeping four or more animals of one type over…

City Code § 92.21 caps most Brooklyn Park households at three animals per dwelling unit, with an eight-week grace…

Coon Rapids lets a household keep up to three dogs, cats, or a combination without a permit. Once four or more adult…

Duluth Legislative Code Section 6-39 caps most households at five combined dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits or other…

In the City of Eagan, keeping four or more dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, or miniature pigs over six months old on one…

In the City of Eden Prairie, a household may keep up to two dogs and two cats over six months old without a permit…

Maple Grove caps common household pets per dwelling unit at two dogs and two cats, with separate small numeric limits…

In the City of Plymouth, City Code Section 915.21 caps household pets at four dogs and cats combined in residential and…

Rochester caps most households at eight cats, dogs and ferrets combined, and no more than five dogs, unless the…

Saint Paul lets the environmental health officer require a permit for animals kept 'in a manner or number that may…

In unincorporated St. Louis County, Zoning Ordinance 62 caps household pets by lot size. On a parcel of two acres or…

Stearns County caps dogs, domestic pets and companion animals over six months old at four per household in the T-20…

Woodbury allows up to three domesticated pets per property under City Code Sec. 5-17, with no limit on aquarium fish. A…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, every cat four months or older must be vaccinated against rabies and distemper…

Blaine requires every cat over 12 months old to carry a current rabies vaccination under City Code § 14-76 and requires…

In the City of Brooklyn Park, a CAT is legally an 'animal of the species Felis Domestica' under § 92.01, so cats fall…

Coon Rapids requires every cat to wear an identification tag with the owner's name and contact information and bans…

In the City of Duluth, every cat over eight weeks of age must be licensed under Duluth Legislative Code Section 6-11…

In the City of Eagan, cats are not licensed the way dogs are, but Eagan City Code § 10.11 still bars letting a cat's…

The City of Eden Prairie requires every cat owner to keep the animal currently vaccinated against rabies under City…

Minneapolis requires every cat over four months old to carry a MACC license and rabies tag, but the city also…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, a person who owns, harbors or keeps a cat over six months old…

In the City of Plymouth, City Code Section 915.17 keeps cats Under Restraint just like dogs, but Subdivision 2 lets…

Saint Paul runs a formal feral-cat framework under Legislative Code Chapter 202: a stray cat can be impounded and held…

Brooklyn Park does not require every pet to be sterilized, but City Code § 92.16 forces neutering of a male dog that…

In the City of Duluth, dogs and cats adopted from the city animal shelter or a nonprofit rescue must be spayed or…

Eagan has no citywide spay-or-neuter mandate for dogs or cats, but Eagan City Code § 10.11, Subd. 3(a).F requires every…

Plymouth does not require spaying or neutering pets generally, but City Code Section 915.17, Subdivision 3 makes it…

Saint Paul doesn't require spaying or neutering pets generally, but a dog declared 'dangerous' under Chapter 200 must…

Coon Rapids does not require microchips for ordinary pets, but any dog the Chief of Police designates Dangerous or…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, the only microchip mandate in the animal code applies to dogs declared…

Brooklyn Park does not microchip every pet, but City Code § 92.25(C) requires any dog declared potentially dangerous to…

Carver County requires a microchip only for dogs already declared dangerous or potentially dangerous, not for pets…

Duluth does not require microchipping for pets generally, but Duluth Legislative Code Section 6-13(f) requires proof of…

Eagan does not require microchips for ordinary pets, but Eagan City Code § 10.11, Subd. 7.E requires an owner of a dog…

Lakeville, Minnesota has no general pet microchip mandate; the requirement applies only after a dog is declared…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, the City Code requires a microchip identification implanted in…

Saint Paul doesn't microchip pets generally, but once a dog is declared 'dangerous' the owner must have a veterinarian…

Blaine does not require microchipping for ordinary pets, but City Code § 14-158(a)(3) lets the city's animal control…

Minneapolis does not require microchipping for a standard pet license, but the city's lifetime dog or cat license can…

In the City of Plymouth, City Code Section 915.11 requires every dog and cat to carry some form of identification that…

Washington County's Parks Ordinance No. 218, Chapter V, Section 2 gives the Parks Director discretionary authority to…

In the City of Minnetonka, Minnesota (Hennepin County), section 1010.030 makes it an offense to obstruct the city's…

Coon Rapids bans pet stores from selling, delivering, or transferring dogs or cats at all. Stores may still host…

In the City of Eden Prairie, City Code Section 9.75 bars any pet store from selling, delivering, bartering or otherwise…

Maple Grove, Minnesota bans pet shops from selling dogs or cats outright, though stores may still host rescue and…

Saint Paul pet shops can't sell, barter, auction or otherwise transfer dogs or cats at all under City Code § 347.05(c)…

In the City of Duluth, a pet shop may sell animals only under an annual license from Duluth Legislative Code Sections…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, pet shops selling live dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, reptiles, or fish are allowed…

Eagan requires anyone operating a pet shop selling live dogs, cats, monkeys, hamsters, parrots, fish or other small…

In the City of Minnetonka, Minnesota, a pet shop, defined as a place for the exhibition, sale or purchase of live dogs…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, pet grooming is regulated as part of a pet shop conditional use permit in…

Carver County allows dog grooming as a permitted home occupation in the Agriculture District, but caps it, along with…

Coon Rapids allows pet grooming shops in the Neighborhood Commercial, Community Commercial, General Commercial and…

In the City of Duluth, anyone running a commercial grooming shop or mobile grooming shop must hold an annual license…

Minneapolis requires anyone who grooms animals for a fee to obtain a license from Animal Care and Control before…

In the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, veterinary clinics are a conditional use in commercial and mixed-use zoning…

A veterinary clinic in unincorporated St. Louis County falls under "clinics and other medical facilities," a Commercial…

In unincorporated Blue Earth County, veterinary clinics and animal hospitals are a permitted use only in the Highway…

Brooklyn Park's Table 152.609.1 permits veterinary clinics by right in the B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, BP, and I nonresidential…

City Code Section 11-701.1 permits veterinary clinics and animal hospitals in Coon Rapids' Office, Community…

In the City of Duluth, where a veterinarian or animal hospital can operate depends on zone district: large-animal…

Minneapolis lets veterinary clinics operate by right in most zoning districts, but the zoning code requires all clinic…

Saint Paul zones veterinary clinics as enclosed-building uses: Sec. 65.536 requires soundproofing and odor control…

Stearns County allows veterinary clinics as a permitted use in the Commercial (C) District under Ordinance 439, the…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, an animal hospital or clinic is a permitted use in the GB general business…

A veterinary office or animal clinic is a permitted use, no conditional use permit required, in Olmsted County's…

In the City of Plymouth, a veterinary clinic is a permitted use by right in the O Office District, so it needs only a…

In the City of Blaine, trapping any wild animal or bird is illegal under City Code § 14-4(d): 'Except as provided in…

In the City of Brooklyn Park, City Code § 136.11 bans hunting or shooting any animal or bird within city limits. Narrow…

Minneapolis parks and parkways ban killing, capturing, or injuring wild birds and destroying their nests, plus any…

In the City of Plymouth, Minnesota, City Code Section 805.09, Subds. 11-12 make it unlawful for anyone but a…

In the City of Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minnesota, Section 1035.010 prohibits trapping anywhere in the city, and…

Washington County's park ordinance (No. 218, Chapter V, Section 2) makes it unlawful to kill, trap, hunt, harass or…

Duluth Legislative Code Section 6-55 bars anyone, or their animal, from injuring or destroying a bird's nest, refuge or…

In the City of Apple Valley, Minnesota, no person can disturb or interfere with any birds or animals kept or found in a…

In the City of Duluth, Chapter 6's ban on keeping nondomesticated animals as pets does not reach genuine wildlife…