I Need Help With My Pet

Moving & Housing Issues

Whether you live inside Memphis city limits or outside city limits in Shelby County, you are required by law to:

1. Keep your dog contained—in the house, on a leash, or behind a fence. This means your dog IS NOT ALLOWED to run loose. Allowing your dog loose in your front yard—if your front yard is not completely fenced in—is allowing your dog to run loose and is against the law.
2. Give your dog access to a shelter if they are left outside for any amount of time.
   1. a. Adequate shelter means a four-sided ventilated structure in good repair with an entrance on one side, a roof, and a solid floor and allows the dog to remain reasonably dry and maintain normal body temperature. The dimensions of the entrance and structure shall allow each dog present to enter, stand, turn around, and lie down in a natural manner, whether in the same structure or by providing multiple structures, and protect the dog from adverse weather and direct sunlight. During cold weather, the structure must contain bedding material that is sufficient to promote the retention of body heat and during summer months a separate natural or artificial shaded area must be available outside the structure and accessible by the dog. “Adequate shelter” does not include the space under buildings, decks, steps, or open crates and carriers designed for temporary housing unless modified to meet the requirements of this section. The shelter shall be cleaned regularly enough so as not to force the animal to stand, sit or lie in bodily waste. The enclosure in which the structure is located must be of a square footage sufficient to allow the dog to defecate at one end and lie at least twice its length away at the other end of the enclosure.

If you cannot afford to provide a doghouse for your dog, Memphis Animal Services can help. However, please make your request as soon as possible and before dangerous weather hits. It can sometimes take weeks for our orders to get fulfilled.

If you need help with a small hole or gap in your fence, we may be able to assist. We are not able to build entire fences or replace entire sections of fence. If you request help with your fence, we will most likely contact you to ask for photos of the hole that needs repair.