Animal Control is responsible for upholding city codes regarding dogs, cats, wildlife, animal bites, and pet licensing.
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 December 5, 2025. Links to other resources on this web page may have been last updated on a different date.