Dog laws in Worland, Wyoming

Yes, effectively. The rule is written as a confinement rule rather than a leash rule: every owner must keep a dog securely confined on their own premises. The leash is the exception that lets you leave the property — you may have your dog on the streets and public places of the City when the dog is controlled by a chain, cord or leash.

There is no length limit on the leash, no voice-control exception, and no off-leash area anywhere in the Code. A dog off your property and not on a leash, cord or chain is “at large,” and any police officer has a duty to pick it up.

A female dog in season must be confined so that other dogs cannot reach her.

Where it says so: Sec. 4-1-2 (the rule) · Sec. 4-1-1 (what “at large” means) · Sec. 4-1-3 (what happens if your dog is picked up)

Every dog five months of age or older must be licensed for each calendar year. Licences run 1 January to 31 December. It is an offence to keep an unlicensed dog in the City after 31 January.

Before a licence is issued you must show proof of current rabies vaccination. You get two tags from the City Treasurer — a numbered licence tag and a separate vaccination tag in a different colour or design — and the Code says both are to be worn by the dog at all times. If you acquire a dog part-way through the year, the fee is prorated from the date you got it. Proof that the dog is spayed or neutered must be produced at the time of licensing to get the lower fee.

If you are cited for a first offence and then licence the dog, the charge is dismissed.

Litters of legally bred, properly licensed pets do not count towards the ten-animal threshold until they reach four months old.

Where it says so: Sec. 4-26 (licence requirements and fees) · Sec. 4-17 (rabies vaccination) · Sec. 4-4 (more than ten animals) · Sec. 4-24 (impoundment of unlicensed dogs)

Yes — on a leash. There is no ordinance that bans dogs from Worland’s parks, and equally there is no ordinance that grants them access, sets park hours for dogs, or creates an off-leash area. In fact the Worland City Code has no parks and recreation chapter at all.

So parks are governed by the general rules. A park is a public place, which means the leash rule in Sec. 4-1-2 applies: the dog must be on a chain, cord or leash. Parks and recreation areas are named explicitly in the waste rule, so you must pick up after your dog there. And a dog that molests people or passing bicycles, or barks excessively, is a public nuisance wherever it does it.

And nothing tells you any of this at the park. A check on the ground in August 2026 found no posted rules of any kind at Worland’s city parks — nothing at the entrances, nothing on the noticeboards, nothing on the grounds. The City’s own parks page publishes no rules either: it gives a telephone number for shelter reservations and nothing more. So a resident standing in a park with a dog has three places to look and finds the answer in none of them — not the Code, which has no parks chapter; not a sign; not the City website. The rules still apply.

That is the gap this page exists to close. One further thing worth knowing: the airport is the one public place in Worland with a dog rule of its own, and it is stricter than the general rule — see below.

Where it says so: Sec. 4-1-2 (leash in public places) · Sec. 4-3 (waste in parks and recreation areas) · Sec. 4-7-2 (nuisance behaviour) · Sec. 2A-22(E) (airport)

You must remove what your dog deposits on public walks, public ways, parks, recreation areas, and on private property that is not yours. Failing to do so is expressly unlawful.

The same duty is written a second time, in almost the same words, as a “public nuisance” in Sec. 4-7-2. That matters, because nuisances carry a three-strikes consequence that the plain offence does not — see the barking answer below.

Where it says so: Sec. 4-3 · Sec. 4-7-2(A)(5)(c)

A dog is a public nuisance if it molests people or passing vehicles including bicycles, or if it barks, whines or howls “in an excessive, continuous or untimely fashion.” None of those three words is defined, and there is no decibel standard, no time-of-day cut-off and no complaint procedure in the Code. Worland’s separate noise chapter (Chapter 14A) does not mention animals.

The consequence is unusually severe and worth knowing. An animal that is the subject of three violations is declared a habitual public nuisance on the third, and on the court’s determination the owner must have it destroyed or relocated outside the City within ten days. If it is not moved, it is disposed of under the direction of the Chief of Police. The Code does not say whether a “violation” means a complaint, a citation or a conviction.

Where it says so: Sec. 4-7-2(A)(1) (what counts) · Sec. 4-7-3 (three strikes) · Sec. 4-7-5 (penalty)

Any dog that has bitten a person must be confined under the observation of a licensed veterinarian for ten days after the attack, at the owner’s expense, to check for disease communicable to humans. Since a 2025 amendment, home quarantine may be allowed instead, at the discretion of the Animal Control Officer or a Peace Officer.

Separately, a dog that is notoriously vicious or cross, or that shows a disposition to bite, may not be kept at all unless it is properly secured and muzzled. On conviction, if the dog is still alive, the municipal judge may order a police officer to have it killed, and officers may enter premises for that purpose. This provision dates from 1950. There is no definition of “vicious,” no dangerous-dog hearing, and no appeal written into it.

Where it says so: Sec. 4-25 (ten-day confinement) · Sec. 4-15 (vicious or cross dogs)

Two different tracks exist, and which one applies depends on why the dog was taken.

Picked up running at large. You pay the City Treasurer a $50 fee for taking up and receiving the animal, plus the veterinarian’s daily impoundment charge, before the dog is released. A dog not redeemed within three days after the date of impoundment is destroyed or otherwise disposed of.

Picked up without a licence tag or vaccination tag. The dog is held at least three days, exclusive of the day of capture. If it is not claimed and the licences bought, it is exterminated and buried beyond the City limits.

The two rules count the three days differently and describe the ending differently, and neither refers to the other. In practice, treat three days from the day the dog was taken as the outside limit and act immediately.

Where it says so: Sec. 4-1-3 · Sec. 4-1-4 · Sec. 4-24

It is unlawful to own or keep a dog in the City without having it inoculated or vaccinated for rabies by a licensed veterinarian, and you must hold the vet’s certificate as proof. Dogs must stay current, as determined by a veterinarian — the Code sets no fixed interval of its own. Proof of current vaccination is a precondition of getting a licence.

Where it says so: Sec. 4-17 · Sec. 4-26(C)

There is no cap on the number of dogs. Above ten dogs and cats combined you simply pay an extra $50 a year.

Breeding is a different matter. Keeping a “kennel” anywhere in the City is declared a nuisance and is punishable. The Code’s definition is narrow and easy to trip over: a kennel is any premises where more than one female dog is kept for breeding purposes, or where more than one litter of pups is kept for the purpose of sale. Two intact females kept for breeding is, on the face of it, a kennel.

Where it says so: Sec. 4-4 (ten-animal surcharge) · Sec. 4-7-1 (kennels)

Stricter than anywhere else in the City, and the only place with a dog rule of its own. No dog may enter the aircraft operation areas at all. No pet may enter the public use areas of the passenger terminal, except an animal helping a disabled person or one secured in a carrier for transport aboard an aircraft. Elsewhere on airport land dogs are allowed if leashed or otherwise under control, and owners must repair or remove any damage or debris their animal causes. Working animals under the control of a peace officer or authorised post office, airport or air carrier employee are exempt.

Where it says so: Sec. 2A-22(E)

Most dog offences carry no penalty of their own; they fall back on the Code’s general penalty. That is a misdemeanor, a fine of not more than $750, plus costs not exceeding $10. Each day a violation continues is a separate offence, which is how a small matter becomes an expensive one.

Two dog-specific consequences sit outside the fine: destruction or relocation of an animal declared a habitual public nuisance after three violations (Sec. 4-7-3), and a judge’s order to destroy a vicious dog on conviction (Sec. 4-15).

Where it says so: Sec. 1-7 (general penalty) · Sec. 4-7-5 (penalties for Article I)

Honest answer: the Code is not consistent about it. Sec. 4-1 assigns impoundment and agreements with animal hospitals to the Chief of Police. Sec. 4-1-3 makes it the duty of “every police officer” to apprehend dogs at large. Sec. 4-7-4 lets the Chief of Police or designees use chemical immobilisation. The 2025 amendment to Sec. 4-25 gives discretion to “the Animal Control Officer or Peace Officer” — but no Animal Control Officer is created, appointed or defined anywhere in the Code. Sec. 2-1 lists the officers the Mayor appoints, and animal control appears there only as one of the areas that Municipal Ordinance Officers may cite for.

For anything practical — buying a licence, reporting a stray, reclaiming a dog — contact the City of Worland directly. The Code does not publish a counter, a phone number or a form.

Where it says so: Sec. 4-1(K) · Sec. 4-1-3 · Sec. 4-7-4 · Sec. 4-25