New York City — dogs must be leashed in public (Health Code Art. 161 § 161.05)

New York City — dogs must be leashed in public (Health Code Art. 161 § 161.05)

Source: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene — Health Code Article 161 (Animals), § 161.05, extracted 2026-07-23. First-hand municipal-code text; C1 substring-verified against pdf-raw/local-ordinance/nyc_health_code_article161.txt.

In New York City, dogs must be leashed in public. Article 161 of the NYC Health Code addresses animals; the leash rule is "§161.05 Dogs to be restrained." Per the code, "a person who owns, possesses or controls a dog shall not permit it to be in any public place or in any open or unfenced area abutting on a public place unless the dog is effectively restrained by a leash or other restraint not more than six feet long." That is, "the dog is effectively restrained by a leash or other restraint not more than six feet long."

Enforcement is delegated: "Notices of violation for failure to comply with subdivision (a) of this section may be issued by any authorized employee, officer or agent of the Department, the Department of Sanitation, the Department of Parks and Recreation, or successor agencies." Parks-department areas have a separate off-leash window (not earlier than 9:00 P.M. and not past 9:00 A.M.) subject to proof of licensure and current rabies vaccination.

This covers the NYC municipal "must my dog be on a leash, and how long can the leash be?" question. It is a local ordinance (city level), distinct from state exotic-pet bans and from state-level leash/licensing laws in other states.

Verbatim C1 claims (each a substring of the source file + this body):

1. "§161.05 Dogs to be restrained."
2. "a person who owns, possesses or controls a dog shall not permit it to be in any public place or in any open or unfenced area abutting on a public place unless the dog is effectively restrained by a leash or other restraint not more than six feet long."
3. "the dog is effectively restrained by a leash or other restraint not more than six feet long"
4. "Notices of violation for failure to comply with subdivision (a) of this section may be issued by any authorized employee"
5. "ARTICLE 161"