Animal Ordinances in Tennessee (2026)

Tennessee's Right to Farm Act shields established agricultural operations, including livestock and poultry, from local…

Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, swine and poultry are banned in residential zones citywide, but Clarksville carves out a…

Franklin bars keeping chickens or other listed fowl and livestock within 1,000 feet of a home, business, or public…

Hendersonville limits horses, ponies, and goats to the RR, ER, and SR-1 zones at one animal per 30,000 square feet, and…

Knoxville bans cattle, horses, sheep and goats in residential areas without an animal-shelter permit, and bars swine or…

Murfreesboro lets residents keep chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys if they're confined and don't trespass, but…

Chattanooga lets residential lots keep up to eight female laying hens in a fenced rear-yard enclosure, bans roosters…

Where you can keep chickens or livestock in unincorporated Hamilton County depends on the zoning district: R-2A Rural…

Knox County classifies "domesticated poultry" as livestock alongside horses, cattle, goats and hogs under Code Section…

Memphis regulates how livestock and fowl, including backyard chickens, may be kept within city limits. Section 8-4-1…

Metro Nashville requires a $25 annual permit from the department of health to keep domesticated hens outside…

In unincorporated Rutherford County livestock is common and largely governed by zoning, but the PAWS Rules make it…

Shelby County Code Sec. 4-171 makes it unlawful for owners of livestock to willfully allow them to run at large…

Tennessee state law sets baseline dog-at-large and dangerous dog standards, but enforcement and leash specifics are…

Chattanooga bans letting any dog, cat, or other animal run loose and unrestrained; animals caught at large more than…

Clarksville bans letting any animal run at large on a public street, sidewalk, park or someone else's property, and…

Franklin, Tennessee, has no leash ordinance of its own: it adopts Williamson County's dog and cat regulations by…

Hamilton County's Zoning Regulations require household pets in the unincorporated county's residential districts to be…

It's unlawful for a Hendersonville owner to let a dog or cat run off-leash and off their own property; any pet found at…

Knox County requires every dog owner to keep the animal "exclusively upon his own premises" or under "direct control"…

Knoxville bars any animal, except a community cat, from running loose on city streets, sidewalks, parks or someone…

Memphis requires dog owners to keep animals leashed, fenced, or otherwise restrained at all times, both on their own…

Murfreesboro dogs can't run at large or trespass: owners must keep them enclosed or confined, though a dog on a public…

Metro Nashville bars letting any dog or other animal run at large; owners must keep it on their own property or…

Dogs and cats may not run at large in unincorporated Rutherford County. Off the owner's property an animal must be…

In unincorporated Shelby County, Code Sec. 4-131 makes it unlawful to willfully or negligently let a dog be at large on…

Knox County has no breed-specific dog ban. Code Section 6-79 explicitly bars recognizing "any similar such designation…

Memphis has no breed ban; instead Chapter 8-20 declares individual dogs dangerous or vicious based on bite or attack…

Metro Nashville does not ban specific dog breeds: a dog becomes "vicious" under Metropolitan Code Chapter 8.08 only…

Rutherford County has no breed-specific ban. Its dangerous-dog rules cannot label a dog dangerous based solely on…

Chattanooga's dangerous-dog law is breed-neutral by design: the City Code bars any Potentially Dangerous, Dangerous, or…

Knoxville's dangerous-dog law bases designations solely on a dog's own bite or attack history in municipal court, and…

Shelby County has no breed-specific dog ordinance. Sec. 4-2 defines a "dangerous/vicious dog" solely by documented…

Tennessee's Apiary Act of 1995 requires every beekeeper who owns one or more colonies to register each apiary location…

Chattanooga's zoning code confines backyard beehives to rear yards, set back 25 feet from every lot line, and requires…

Hendersonville permits backyard beehives in its lowest-density residential zones, capped by lot area and set back 20…

Knoxville lets residents keep backyard beehives, but Article 10, Section 10.3.D of the zoning code registers every new…

Memphis and Shelby County zoning permits backyard beekeeping but caps colonies by lot size, from 2 hives on a half acre…

Tennessee classifies wild animals into five classes under TWRA rules and prohibits private possession of Class I…

Chattanooga bans keeping exotic animals inside city limits outright. City Code § 7-115 makes it unlawful to have, keep…

Knox County bans owning, selling or keeping any "wild, exotic, dangerous or nondomesticated animal" countywide under…

Knoxville prohibits keeping wild, exotic, dangerous or nondomesticated animals within city limits, including…

Clarksville makes it unlawful to keep Class I or Class IV wildlife under Tennessee Code Annotated section…

Metro Nashville bans keeping wildlife, Class I and IV species plus pumas, cougars, cheetahs and wolves, as pets without…

Hendersonville allows exotic animals as a residential accessory pet in most zones, but only at low density and only if…

Hendersonville bans placing grain, salt licks, fruit, nuts, or hay where it may intentionally feed deer, with…

Clarksville has no ordinance against feeding deer, birds, or other wildlife. Feeding that breeds vermin or creates…

Tennessee animal cruelty statutes apply uniformly statewide and treat aggravated cruelty as a felony, allowing…

Chattanooga's animal code defines an 'animal hoarder' as anyone keeping a large number of animals in overcrowded…

Metro Nashville bars keeping more than five companion animals if their owner shows general disregard for their…

Franklin prohibits keeping any animal or fowl in a place or condition that becomes a nuisance from noise, odor, or…

Hendersonville caps dogs, cats, and rabbits combined at one animal per 3,000 square feet of lot area in every zoning…

Knox County caps how many dogs and cats a household may keep based on lot size under Code Section 6-34: any lot may…

Knoxville households may not keep more than four dogs and/or cats over six months old. Exceeding that number is legal…

Memphis Code § 8-16-10 makes it a misdemeanor to possess more than five companion animals while showing general…

The county has no ordinance using the word 'hoarding,' but the PAWS Rules make neglect and cruelty unlawful and let…

Shelby County's animal Code sets no numeric limit on how many dogs or cats a household may keep in the unincorporated…

Knox County exempts eartipped, sterilized "community cats" fed by neighborhood caregivers from licensing, stray and…

Knoxville requires dogs and cats to be licensed and rabies-vaccinated and bans cats from running at large, but exempts…

Memphis requires every cat three months or older to have current proof of rabies vaccination, and it treats…

Murfreesboro requires every cat over three months old to be rabies-vaccinated, and owners must pay a $2 annual fee to…

Metro Nashville requires owned cats over six months to be rabies-vaccinated and licensed through the Health Department…

Cats fall under the same at-large, licensing, and rabies rules as dogs, but 'community cats' are exempt from the…

Shelby County exempts cats from the dog at-large ban (Sec. 4-131), so cats are not required to be leashed. But every…

Chattanooga exempts Community Cats and Feral Cats from its at-large law, while owned cats must stay under control or…

Memphis requires every dog and cat kept in the city to be spayed or neutered unless the owner qualifies for a listed…

Chattanooga requires every dog or cat adopted from the Animal Center or a shelter to be spayed or neutered first, and…

Knoxville requires every dog or cat adopted from the city animal shelter to be spayed or neutered by a licensed…

Metro Nashville courts must order pet sterilization after a second cruelty or companion-animal-hoarding conviction, not…

Chattanooga requires every dog and cat sold for profit in the city to be microchipped before the sale, with the seller…

Memphis requires every dog and cat to be implanted with a registered microchip by six months old, or within 30 days of…

Nashville doesn't require pet owners to microchip their animals. Metro Animal Control can implant a microchip in any…

Hendersonville has no coyote ordinance, but runs a Deer Monitoring and Control Committee that oversees an official…

Franklin, Tennessee bars pet stores from selling dogs and cats obtained from commercial breeders or brokers. Franklin…

Metro Nashville pet stores can only sell dogs and cats obtained from an animal care facility or a nonprofit rescue…

Knoxville doesn't ban pet-store sales, but every pet retail establishment needs an animal-shelter permit, can't sell…

The Memphis and Shelby County Unified Development Code lists animal hospitals and kennels, including animal grooming…

Metro Nashville's home-occupation rules expressly exclude animal grooming activities, so a pet groomer cannot run a…

In unincorporated Hamilton County's C-2 Local Business Commercial District, veterinary hospitals are on the zoning…

In unincorporated Sumner County, veterinary clinics and animal care facilities need at least 2 acres of land, with 5…

Chattanooga zones veterinary clinics and pet boarding as Animal Care Facilities, requiring overnight boarding indoors…

Franklin, Tennessee requires indoor animal service uses, including veterinary clinics, to sit at least 200 feet from a…

Hendersonville's Zoning Ordinance defines veterinary clinics as "Animal Hospital," a listed Service Use permitted only…

Knoxville's zoning code sets siting rules for small-animal veterinary clinics, breeders, and kennels: exterior exercise…

Memphis and Shelby County zoning lets veterinary clinics, animal hospitals, pet clinics, boarding facilities, shelters…

Metro Nashville caps veterinary clinics at 4,000 square feet of building footprint and requires outdoor exercise yards…

Unincorporated Rutherford County splits veterinary uses in two: large-animal veterinary services need a Board of Zoning…

Williamson County's zoning ordinance treats a veterinary clinic, animal hospital, and pet-grooming operation as one…

Chattanooga designates the entire city a wild bird sanctuary, making it unlawful to trap, hunt, shoot at, or otherwise…

Hendersonville designates its entire corporate limits a Bird Sanctuary under Municipal Code § 10-301, and § 10-302…

Knoxville designates its entire corporate limits a wildlife and bird sanctuary. Willfully molesting, trapping, hunting…

Murfreesboro designates its entire corporate area a bird sanctuary: trapping, shooting, hunting, or molesting birds or…

Metro Nashville makes it unlawful to kill or attempt to kill any bird, game or nongame, except English sparrows, or…

Memphis makes it unlawful to kill or attempt to kill any wild bird within city limits, with a specific carve-out for…

Metro Nashville requires a $50 certificate from the health department to possess wildlife like Class I or IV species…

Chattanooga requires a free Animal Rescuer Permit for any nonprofit that takes in more than ten animals a year…