Aggressive and Dangerous Dogs

Aggressive dogs

An aggressive dog in Fort Worth is defined as any dog that has:

1. Made an unprovoked attack on another domestic animal that causes bodily injury to the animal and occurs in a place other than an enclosure in which the dog was being kept; or
2. On more than one occasion, bitten one or more persons who are lawfully inside the dog’s enclosure; or
3. Repeatedly attempted, successfully or unsuccessfully, to climb over, dig under, chew through, break or otherwise escape from its enclosure in an attempt to attack, chase or harass a person or another domestic animal as observed by a person charged with enforcing this chapter; or
4. Committed unprovoked acts that would cause a person to reasonably believe that the dog will attack and cause bodily injury to a person or domestic animal.

Dangerous dogs 

A dangerous dog in Fort Worth is defined as one that:

1. Makes an unprovoked attack on a person that causes bodily injury and occurs in a place other than an enclosure in which the dog was being kept; or
2. Commits unprovoked acts in a place other than an enclosure which the dog was being kept and those acts cause a person to reasonably believe that the animal will attack and cause bodily injury to that person.

Fort Worth Animal Care & Control must be notified before any declared dangerous dog is brought into the City of Fort Worth.

Sec. 6-15.6 DANGEROUS DOG REGISTRATION

(a) The owner of a Dangerous Dog shall notify the Animal Care & Control Authority within 24 hours if the Dangerous Dog is at large, unconfined, has attacked a human being or another animal, has died or has been sold or given away.

(b) If an owner of a registered Dangerous Dog sells or moves the dog to a new address, that owner, not later than the 14th day after the date of the sale or move, shall notify the Animal Care & Control Authority for the area in which the new address is located. Upon selling or moving the registered Dangerous Dog, that owner must notify the new owner or person who has care and control of the dog that he or she is keeping or taking ownership of a dog that has been declared dangerous.

(c) The owner of a registered Dangerous Dog shall notify the office in which the Dangerous Dog was registered of any attacks the Dangerous Dog makes on people or other animals.

Own a dangerous dog?

If you are the owner of a dog that has been deemed dangerous, you are required to:

• Complete an initial registration of the dog at the shelter to acquire a dangerous dog license and pay an annual registration fee.
• Re-register the dog annually with Animal Care & Control and pay an annual registration fee.
• Notify Animal Care & Control within 14 days if the dog is sold or moved to a new address.

Animal Care & Control will conduct quarterly inspections to ensure the dangerous dog is properly registered and still kept at the registered address.

Declared dangerous dogs

Photo	Name	Address	Description	Date and reason for designation
	Dottie	6409 S. Hulen St.	Female (spayed) White/Brown Pitbull Mix	Jan. 14, 2015: Animal-on-animal attack
	Zues	6409 S. Hulen St.	Male (neutered) Tan/White Pitbull Mix	Jan. 14, 2015: Animal-on-animal attack
	Hogan	3020 Mary's Lane	Male (neutered) Black/Brown Rottweiler Mix	May 31, 2019: Animal-on-animal attack
	Apollo	3725 Glenmont Drive	Male (neutered) Grey/Tan Brindle/White Pitbull Mix	June 15, 2022: Dog-on-person attack
	Chop	6350 Twilight Circle	German Shepherd/Mix, Black/Brown/Bicolor, Large	July 10, 2024 Dog Attacked off Owners Property