Controlling Animals
Animal Welfare Officers investigate complaints regarding the Animal Control Ordinance.
Animal owners must comply with the following ordinance rules:
- Dogs and cats may not run at large. Your pet must be on a leash when it is off your property.
- All dogs and cats over 6 months of age must have a current pet license.
- All Dogs, cats and ferrets over 3 months of age must have a current rabies vaccination
- Keeping a dog which disturbs neighbors by barking is not permitted.
- Pet owners must remove any animal waste deposited by their animal on public or private property.
Things that every pet owner should know:
- Patrol Hours: Officers are patrolling your neighborhoods from 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday – Friday.
- Officers are also on call 24 hours for emergency situations, 7 days a week.
- Call us at 574.235.9303 to report: animals that are stray, injured, neglected, lost or found; animal bites; nuisance and cruelty complaints; wildlife problems
- Humane capture cage rental program to address stray cat and dog problems.
- Dead animals on roads inside the City Limits, please call 311.
Laws & Your Pet
These laws protect citizens from dangerous or nuisance animals and provide for basic animal care requirements. Only the most common problems are outlined below. Please read Chapter 5 of the South Bend Municipal Code for all pet ownership ordinances.
Neglect Laws
- All pets must be provided with adequate shelter, food, and water.
- All pets must be provided with necessary medical care in addition to the required rabies vaccination.
- All pet areas must be maintained in a clean and sanitary manner.
- No pet shall be tied to a rope, chain or cord fastened directly to the neck. Choker collars used for training need to be replaced with a leather or nylon collar immediately after training.
- No pet shall be left unattended in a vehicle when conditions constitute a health hazard.
Cruelty Laws
- No person shall beat, cruelly treat, neglect, torment, overload, overwork, or otherwise abuse an animal.
- Dog and cock fighting is illegal in South Bend, and is a felony in the State of Indiana.
Nuisance Animal Laws
- Excessive barking: Owners must immediately attend to their pet when barking begins.
- Pet waste must be cleaned up daily.
- Walking your pet? Carry a pooper scooper.
- Pets must be restrained at all times.
Please read Chapter 5 of the South Bend Municipal Code for all Responsible Pet Ownership Ordinances which can be found here:
Chapter 5 of the South Bend Municipal Code
Forms
Lost/Found Report
License Application
Adoption Application
This web page was last updated on November 20, 2024. Links to other resources on this web page may have been last updated on a different date.