I’m Sorry Dog Lovers, But There is a Limit to How Many You Can Own in Texas

(Austin, Texas) - Having a pet in your home is fun. Yes, there's some work involved in caring for that pet but the love they give back makes it worth it. In our household we have two cats. Each one has a unique way to bring some love and laughs to us.

Many of you reading this are dog lovers. Once we have a bigger space, we will add a dog to our family. But is there a limit to how many you can own in Texas? There is.

Laws and Regulations for Pets

Every state has laws and regulations about owning a pet. Let's go out west to California for example, you can own up to four dogs, but a kennel permit will need to be acquired to own more. In Iowa, six dogs or six cats or a combination of both that equals that number is the limit.

Louisiana has a 12 dog limit per household while Minnesota requires a multiple animal permit to own more than four dogs. For Texas, the legal limit for dog ownership is four. There is no permit to buy to own more and there are no exceptions to the law, either. The limit is four per household.

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East Texas Laws About Pets

While there are state laws regarding pet ownership, individual cities can enact their own ordinances or laws around pets. In Tyler you can have no more than four dogs or cats in your household. You also cannot have chickens or other fowl unless you're in a specifically zoned area inside the city limits (cityoftyler.org). In Longview, the pet laws are very similar (longviewtexas.gov).

While Tyler and Longview's pet laws are pretty straight forward, some Texas cities have some weird laws on the books (texascapital.org). For instance:

• El Paso - Illegal for donkeys to sleep in a bathtub.
• Austin - Illegal to carry an Armadillo across state line.
• Houston - Illegal to own horses in a residential area.
• Corpus Christi - Illegal to let your dogs run loose on the beach.
• Austin, Dallas and San Antonio - Illegal to have a skunk as a pet.

So unfortunately, as much as we would love to own all of the animals and get all the snuggles, we can only do it up to a certain point by state or city laws.

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