Animal Ordinances in Minnesota (2026)

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

Maple Grove, Minnesota allows poultry, fowl, and livestock only in R-A and R-1 zoned property, capping the number of…

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…

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

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…

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

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

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

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 §…

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

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…

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

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

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…

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…

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

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…

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

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…

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

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

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…

Cities ban dangerous exotic pets. Blaine Sec. 14-217 prohibits keeping any nondomesticated animal, including skunks…

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

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…

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…

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…

Cities cap household pets before a permit is needed. Coon Rapids requires a multiple-pet permit for any combination of…

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

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…

Cats are covered by city animal codes. Blaine requires every cat over 12 months old to be vaccinated against rabies and…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)…

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

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

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

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…

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

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

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