Cape Town’s proposed Animal Keeping By-law, 2026 would retain many of the rules in the current 2021 by-law, but it would make the system more detailed, more welfare-driven and more explicit about enforcement. For ordinary pet owners, the biggest practical changes are clearer identification and leash obligations; for breeders, pet businesses and working-animal operators, the proposed compliance burden is substantially greater.
The draft is not automatically enforceable simply because it has been published for comment or circulated. The City would need to adopt a final version and bring it into operation. Until then, the 2021 Animal Keeping By-law remains the operative baseline discussed here.
The big picture
The 2021 by-law contains 40 sections and sets the general framework for keeping animals in Cape Town: numerical limits, permits, sterilisation, nuisance controls, dangerous animals, commercial sales, impoundment, hygiene, religious or cultural slaughter, bees and enforcement.
The 2026 draft expands this into 46 sections. It separates dogs and cats into standalone provisions, introduces distinct rules for commercial kennels and catteries, adds dedicated sections for livestock, poultry, birds and rabbits, and reorganises enforcement powers into clearer categories. It also introduces several new welfare provisions—including a proposed prohibition on glue traps and an express prohibition on leaving animals in harmful conditions inside stationary vehicles.
The policy direction is clear: the City is moving from a broadly framed animal-control by-law toward a more prescriptive system that regulates animal welfare, identification, business practices, premises standards and the conduct of owners in greater detail.
Pet owners: What stays the same
For most households, several of the most familiar rules would remain broadly unchanged.
Dog-number limits
The proposed draft retains the current default maximums for dogs over six months old:
The limits do not apply in certain circumstances, such as approved pet shops, veterinary clinics, registered training premises, guide-dog premises, pounds and operational animals belonging to public authorities.
A person who has had a dog permit cancelled, previously had a dog removed from their care, or has a relevant conviction or civil judgment may not keep a dog unless the City decides otherwise.
Cat-number limits
The basic cat limits also remain similar:
The 2021 by-law used broader wording—four cats over six months “on any premises.” The draft specifically refers to four cats on residential premises, while retaining six on agricultural property.
Permit, rabies and sterilisation requirements
The 2021 by-law requires anyone keeping a dog or cat older than six months to apply to the City for a permit for every animal and submit a valid rabies inoculation certificate with the application. The draft retains the same requirement, but places dogs and cats in separate sections for greater clarity.
Both the existing by-law and the draft also require dogs and cats, male and female, to be sterilised once they are older than six months—unless the owner obtains a City permit to keep an animal unsterilised.
The draft expressly allows the City to refuse an unsterilised-animal permit where keeping that animal could create a nuisance or health nuisance, or where it would contravene the Municipal Planning By-law or another applicable law.
Stronger rules for identification and public control
Dogs would face an explicit identification requirement
This is one of the clearest proposed changes for ordinary dog owners.
The 2021 by-law expressly requires cats to have a collar or microchip with a name, telephone number and physical address, or a reference to an animal-welfare organisation. It does not contain the same explicit standalone provision for dogs in the supplied 2021 text.
The 2026 draft would require every dog to be:
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Fitted with a collar and name tag showing the owner’s contact number or address; or
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Microchipped.
Where a dog is microchipped, the chip must be registered in the owner’s name and include a telephone number and physical address.
For cats, the draft similarly requires a collar and name tag with owner contact details or a microchip registered in the owner’s name and linked to a telephone number.
The practical message is simple: dog identification becomes explicitly enforceable in the proposed by-law, and microchip details must be accurate and current.
Leash use becomes the default position
The 2021 by-law allows the City to designate public places as free-running, leash-only or off-limits areas. Those designations can vary by season and time of day.
The draft makes the starting rule more direct: a dog may not be in a public street or public place unless it is on a leash and under control, unless it is in an area the Council has designated as a free-running area.
This matters because the legal presumption changes in emphasis. Rather than asking whether a particular space has been declared leash-only, the draft starts with the premise that dogs must be leashed in public, except where off-leash access has been expressly designated.
The City would still be able to create free-running, leash-only and dog-exclusion zones, use appropriate signage, and vary those designations after a notice-and-comment process.
Dog mess remains an enforcement issue
The 2021 by-law requires anyone in control of an animal that defecates in a public street, public place or public road to remove the waste immediately and dispose of it in a suitable refuse receptacle. A guide-dog user is exempted. People walking animals must carry sufficient bags or wrappers to deal with excrement.
The draft preserves the substance of that obligation for dogs: except for a visually impaired person assisted by a guide dog, a person may not allow a dog to defecate in a public place without immediately removing and disposing of the waste properly.
Excess animals: More scrutiny for extra dogs and cats
People who want to exceed the prescribed dog or cat limit would still need an excess-animal permit. Applications must be made in writing, on the prescribed form and with the applicable fee.
The City can require any information it considers relevant and may refuse to consider an incomplete application. It may grant approval with conditions intended to reduce nuisance or health-nuisance risks, or refuse the application outright.
The proposed draft strengthens the assessment process in several ways.
What an excess-pet report may consider
Before the City considers an application, it would require a written report from an authorised official—or from a contracted entity acting at the City’s request—addressing:
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Whether the additional dog or cat is likely to create a nuisance or health nuisance.
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The results of a premises inspection.
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Whether the applicant has previously had a dog or cat removed from their care.
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Whether the applicant has a prior criminal conviction or civil judgment involving a dog, cat or another animal in their care.
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Whether at least two directly adjacent neighbours support the application in writing, where the authorised official requires such support.
That last point is important. The draft does not say every applicant must automatically obtain two neighbours’ support. It says that support may be required when the authorised official considers it necessary.
The draft would also require the City to refuse an excess-animal permit if the applicant, the premises, or related animal keeping, breeding, trading, boarding or sale activities do not comply with the by-law, other applicable laws, permits, approvals or conditions.
New welfare provisions
The draft introduces several provisions that are either new or significantly more explicit than the 2021 text.
Glue traps would be prohibited
The draft states that no adhesive or glue trap, board or similar adhesive trapping device may be used to capture or trap any animal within Cape Town. It would also prohibit any person, company or establishment from selling such products.
That is a major welfare provision. It would affect households, pest-control operators, retailers and businesses that currently stock or use sticky boards to trap rodents, reptiles, birds or other animals.
Animals left in stationary vehicles
The draft expressly prohibits leaving an animal unattended in a stationary vehicle when the conditions are harmful or potentially injurious to the animal’s health or well-being.
The proposed test is not restricted to extreme heat. It requires consideration of:
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Ventilation.
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How long the animal is left inside.
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Access to food and water.
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Any other factor relevant to the risk faced by the animal.
The 2021 by-law has general nuisance, cruelty-related and welfare provisions, but the supplied text does not include this specific vehicle-based prohibition.
Animal fighting would also cover hunting
The 2021 by-law prohibits owning, keeping, buying, selling, training or breeding animals for fighting; provoking animals to attack each other; promoting fights; allowing fights on premises; and attending as a spectator.
The draft renames the section “Fighting or Hunting with Animals” and extends the same pattern of prohibitions to hunting another animal. It would cover possessing, training, breeding or controlling an animal for fighting or hunting; baiting or encouraging an animal to attack or hunt; promoting animal fights or hunts; facilitating them on premises; and spectating.
The draft also says that failing to exercise reasonable care to prevent an animal from attacking or charging another person or animal includes the prohibited use of dogs to hunt other animals.
Stricter rules for display, begging and circuses
The 2021 by-law prohibits displaying or exhibiting an animal for show or financial gain in a public space or public road without a City or CapeNature permit. It expressly includes begging and fundraising.
The draft goes further:
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No person may display or exhibit an animal for show or financial gain anywhere within the City without a City permit, subject to the specified exemption for permitted animal-welfare organisations.
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No person may use an animal for begging or soliciting money from the public, whether in a public place or otherwise.
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Wild or exotic animals may not be used in any circus act within Cape Town.
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The City must consult an animal-welfare inspector before granting a display or exhibition permit.
Commercial breeders, sellers and animal businesses
The draft’s most substantial changes affect those who keep, breed, sell, board, transport or otherwise use animals for business or economic gain.
Commercial permits are more detailed
The 2021 by-law requires authorisation before someone keeps, breeds or sells animals as a business or economic activity. This includes commercial companion-animal breeders.
The 2026 draft retains that requirement but describes the permit process in more detail. A business must obtain a permit before beginning operations, and an application would need to include at least:
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A detailed description of the business or economic activity.
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The name and contact details of the responsible person.
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The physical address and description of the premises.
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The number, species, breeds, sexes and ages of animals intended to be kept or bred, where possible.
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Details and photographs of enclosures and housing, including dimensions.
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The veterinary professionals engaged to care for the animals.
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A detailed plan explaining how animal welfare needs will be met.
If a commercial activity is proposed from residential premises, the City may require substantiated comments from abutting and affected residential neighbours.
Permit production and premises changes
The draft says a commercial animal-business permit must be produced on demand to an authorised official, a SAPS member or an animal-welfare inspector.
A particularly important change concerns relocation. Under the 2021 by-law, a commercial operator changing location had to notify the City in advance; the City could inspect the new premises and reissue or revoke the permit.
The draft is stricter: a commercial permit is location-specific, and a change in the address where animals are kept would void the permit.
This could mean businesses need to secure a valid permit for the new site before operating there, rather than relying on an existing permit while the City considers a move.
More comprehensive recordkeeping
Under the proposed draft, commercial animal businesses would need to keep and make available for inspection:
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Current records of animals kept, bred or sold, including species, breeds, sexes and ages.
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A list of employees and their relevant training and qualifications.
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A documented care regime.
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Acquisition dates.
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Veterinary or medical records.
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Permits where applicable.
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Other relevant documentation connected to the animals’ welfare and care.
The 2021 by-law already required records relating to animal numbers, age, sex, breed, species, employee details and care regimes. The draft develops this into a more formal, welfare-centred recordkeeping duty.
Online and social-media sales remain regulated
Both documents make clear that no person may sell or offer to sell an animal online or via social media without the required City authorisation. The rule also covers sales in streets or public places, from movable structures or vehicles, and at public markets.
That means informal online advertising is not outside the regulatory system merely because no physical pet shop or market stall is involved.
Transport standards become explicit
The draft introduces a clear prohibition on transporting an animal in a vehicle, container or enclosure that:
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Is unsuitable for the species.
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Does not provide adequate space, light, ventilation, protection or shelter.
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Compromises the animal’s welfare, well-being or safety in any way.
The 2021 text included broad welfare and anti-cruelty protections, but the draft gives transport conditions a direct and specific place in the by-law.
Animals no longer suitable for sale or breeding
The 2021 by-law requires commercial keepers and breeders to rehome animals that are no longer suitable for the relevant business activity or, where possible, send them to a shelter or sanctuary.
The draft retains this approach. It also tightens the position on animals suffering from irremediable injury or disease: they may not be sold, transferred or transported, except when transferred or transported for medical treatment or care by a qualified veterinarian.
Working animals: The draft adds detailed protections
The proposed by-law substantially expands the rules governing working animals, including working equines and working dogs.
Heat, water and rest
The 2021 by-law prevents people from working animals that are injured, diseased, unfit, unsafe in traffic, dangerous, uncontrolled, improperly identified, or used by someone under 18 or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The draft preserves those basic safeguards and adds further welfare protections. A person would not be allowed to work a working animal:
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In conditions of extreme heat above 30°C.
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Without ensuring it has access to sufficient clean drinking water whenever it is not working.
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Without providing adequate rest periods at least once every hour while working, during which clean drinking water must be made available.
The draft applies this rule to working equines and working dogs. It excludes service animals managed by the City, SAPS, SANDF and SANParks on the basis that those authorities should manage their service animals in the interests of welfare.
More formal rules for working equines
The 2021 by-law requires a City permit for a working equine and requires applicants to provide evidence that the working equine is the foal of a working mare. It also refers to a valid E53 operator’s permit for the person driving the animal-drawn vehicle.
The draft introduces a more formal two-permit model:
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An operator’s permit for the person operating a working equine.
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An equine permit for the individual working equine.
The equine permit must accompany the animal while it is working. It would contain:
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A recent photograph of the equine.
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The approximate weight it is capable of pulling.
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The owner’s name and address.
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The equine’s date of birth.
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Confirmation of microchip registration and the microchip number.
The draft also requires a visible City or contracted-entity registration plate to be displayed on the rear of the animal-drawn vehicle.
This represents a significant move toward traceability and identifiable accountability for operators, horses and carts.
Livestock, poultry, birds and rabbits
The 2021 by-law already regulates non-pet animals on residential premises. It requires a permit for cattle, horses, mules, donkeys, goats, sheep, rabbits and more than five birds. It permits up to five hen chickens without a permit, while prohibiting pigs and roosters on residential premises.
The draft does not simply remove these rules. Instead, it creates dedicated sections for:
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Large and small livestock.
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Poultry.
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Birds.
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Rabbits.
That structural change suggests the City intends to impose more specific requirements for each type of animal, rather than relying mainly on general permit and hygiene provisions.
The existing hygiene principles remain important: premises and equipment must be clean and sanitary; manure must be stored appropriately; animal waste must be removed regularly; feed must be stored in rodent-proof conditions; pests and offensive odours must be controlled; and dead animals must be removed or dealt with appropriately.
Enforcement, impoundment and appeals
A broader role for contracted entities
The draft introduces a new definition of a contracted entity: an animal-welfare organisation registered as a non-profit and contracted by the City to provide animal-keeping services and carry out inspection, permitting and administrative functions under the by-law.
The 2021 by-law already allows the City to enter into service-delivery agreements with statutory organisations, welfare organisations or persons to operate a pound.
The draft appears to envisage a broader role for contracted animal-welfare organisations—not only in pound operations, but potentially in inspection, permit-related reporting and administrative functions where authorised by the City.
More clearly structured powers
The 2021 by-law places extensive enforcement powers in a single section. Authorised officials may issue instructions and compliance notices, enter and inspect premises, require identifying information, issue notices under the Criminal Procedure Act, seize or impound items, recover remedial costs and, in certain circumstances, search without a warrant or arrest a person.
The draft separates these issues into distinct provisions on:
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Enforcement and related powers of authorised officials.
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Search, seizure and entry of premises.
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Search and seizure without a warrant.
It also expressly identifies Metropolitan Police members, traffic officers, qualifying law-enforcement peace officers and SAPS members within the definition of an authorised official.
The draft therefore makes the enforcement structure easier to identify, although it does not mean that every official can act without regard to constitutional rights or statutory limits. The 2021 by-law already requires officials to exercise powers reasonably, respect fundamental rights and use force only where justified and proportionate.
Appeals remain available
The current by-law allows anyone whose rights are affected by a decision to appeal in writing to the City Manager within 21 days of being notified of that decision.
The draft retains that appeal route.
What does this mean in practice?
For the average Cape Town household with one or two pets, the proposed by-law would not radically change the basic number limits. But it would make compliance more visible and easier to enforce:
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Keep your dog or cat properly identified.
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Ensure microchip details are current.
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Have valid rabies documentation.
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Obtain required permits for dogs and cats older than six months.
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Sterilise animals unless you have written permission not to.
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Use a leash in public unless the dog is in a designated free-running area.
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Prevent nuisance, roaming, danger and poor welfare conditions.
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Do not leave an animal in a vehicle where it may be harmed.
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Do not use glue traps.
For people running a breeding operation, pet shop, cattery, kennel, animal day-care business, pet hotel or online animal-selling business, the change would be more significant. The draft demands stronger documentation, clearer welfare planning, location-specific permits, better transport safeguards, employee training records and potentially neighbour input for operations from residential premises.
Final takeaway
The proposed 2026 Animal Keeping By-law is not simply a rebranding of the 2021 rules. It keeps Cape Town’s central controls on permits, animal numbers, sterilisation, nuisance and public safety, but builds a more detailed system around them.
The most meaningful changes are:
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Explicit dog identification and microchip requirements.
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A clearer leash-first rule for dogs in public spaces.
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Potentially more rigorous assessment of excess-pet permits.
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A ban on glue traps and a specific prohibition on leaving animals in harmful vehicle conditions.
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An expanded ban on fighting or hunting with animals.
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Detailed new welfare, transport, permit and recordkeeping duties for commercial operations.
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Stronger protection standards for working animals, including a 30°C heat threshold, water access and hourly rests.
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More detailed rules for working equines, livestock, poultry, birds and rabbits.
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A more structured enforcement and contracted-service framework.
If adopted, the draft would make compliance more formal for everyone—but particularly for anyone keeping animals beyond ordinary household numbers, using animals commercially, or operating from residential premises.
