Can my neighbor let their dog on my property in Charlotte? The rules

More than 40% of Americans own at least one dog, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association — but an unknown dog can feel threatening, or inconvenient.

So what can people do if their neighbor’s dogs are on their property? Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control weighs in.

Restraint of animals

Simply put, allowing unleashed animals to leave the property is a violation of Charlotte’s restraint of animals ordinance. These ordinances are commonly called leash laws, Animal Control Public Information Officer Melissa Knicely told The Charlotte Observer.

If you and your dog are on your own property, and you have voice control of the animal, it isn’t illegal for the dog to be off leash.

“The sidewalk is not really your property, so if he steps onto the sidewalk and I say “Rex back!” and he comes back, that’s considered voice control,” Knicely said. “Where it starts to become a problem is when they wander onto other people’s property, then we get into attacking people, running after people, defecating in other people’s yards, urinating in other people’s yards — that’s when it starts to escalate.”

Invisible fences are acceptable, but once someone’s dog leaves their property, it needs to be physically leashed.

“When you are not on your property in the City of Charlotte, you need to have your dog on a leash, no matter what, not on an electronic leash, not on any of that stuff,” Knicely said.

Nuisance complaint

If someone’s dog is on someone else’s property, especially repeatedly, the person may choose to call 311 or Animal Control to lodge a nuisance complaint.

According to Animal Control, examples of nuisance situations include:

• An animal disturbing the safety of the public or interfering with the “ordinary use and enjoyment” of their property.
• Allowing an animal to damage others’ property
• Offensive odors caused by poor animal maintenance
• Allowing an animal to make excessive, continuous or untimely noise, such as barking, in a way that interferes with the “reasonable use and enjoyment” of neighboring homes
• Failing to confine a female dog in heat
• Failing to remove dog feces on any publicly owned property or private property, unless the owner of the property has given permission

“If it’s attacking, if it’s something that’s the difference between calling Animal Care and Control and calling the police, if someone’s life or the dog’s life is in peril, then it’s a call to 911,” Knicely said.

If the situation has not escalated to the point of danger and someone contacts Animal Control, an officer will be sent out to investigate.

“Often, what happens is, by the time we get out there, the dog is not on the property anymore,” Knicely said.

Knicely said video helps to show repeated behavior and identify the dog in question, and time-stamped videos are helpful.

If someone is found to be violating leash laws, the first visit is often a warning for the owners, Knicely said. The owner is often also warned that they need a Charlotte pet license, if they don’t have one.

People can be fined for violations, ranging $50 to $500 depending on how many times it has happened.

“What I would do from a citizen’s point, is anytime anybody sees a dog that’s running loose, everybody call it in, because the more reports we have of it the more we can do,” Knicely said. “It’s kind of like police work, it’s like building a case.”

Outdoor pets

Leash laws are not applicable to cats, but people still have options regarding outdoor cats causing nuisances.

Charlotte’s Animal Control shelter recently decided not to accept owner surrendered animals due to overcrowding, but is still responsible for stray animals with no owner. If an animal is coming across your property that doesn’t seem to have an owner, calling 311 or 911, depending on the severity, is still a good call.

In order to have more than three pets that reside outdoors, Charlotteans need a permit.

Eva Flowe

The Charlotte Observer

Eva Flowe is a North Carolina native and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. She joined the Charlotte Observer as part of the NC service journalism team in April 2026.