Sep 4, 2026
Santa Fe Dog Fines: Every Number Actually Published, City and County
The city tiers its restraint fines by repeat offense and altered status. The county runs a flat schedule instead. Here is every published number, plus the one figure still in dispute.
Santa Fe, New Mexico8 min readPet Care & Services
Santa Fe runs two separate fine schedules, one for the city and one for the county, and they're structured completely differently: the city tiers its restraint fines by whether the dog is altered and by repeat-offense count, while the county sets a single flat fine per violation category regardless of prior offenses.
City of Santa Fe restraint fines, tiered by repeat offense and altered status
Per Table 5-12.1 of the city's own code, as amended by its 2025 bill:
| Violation | Unaltered animal | Altered animal |
|---|---|---|
| Restraint of animals (5-5.4), 1st civil citation in 36-month period | $50 | $25 |
| Restraint of animals, 2nd citation | $100 | $50 |
| Restraint of animals, 3rd citation | $250 | $125 |
| Restraint of animals, 4th citation in 12-month period | $500 | $250 |
An altered dog's owner pays exactly half the unaltered fine at every tier, a structural detail worth knowing if you're deciding whether spaying or neutering is worth it beyond the health and shelter-capacity reasons usually cited.
City fines for offenses beyond simple restraint
The same table sets separate figures for more serious violations, quoted from the city's own current schedule:
| Violation | Fine |
|---|---|
| Neglect (5-5.7, 5-5.8, 5-8.3), 1st criminal conviction in 48 months | $150 |
| Neglect, 2nd conviction | $250 |
| Neglect, 3rd conviction | $500 and/or up to 90 days in jail and surrender of animal |
| Abandonment (5-8.4) | $500 (raised from $200) |
| Poisoning (5-8.5) | $500 and/or up to 90 days in jail and surrender of animal |
| Animal fights (5-8.10) | $500 and/or up to 90 days in jail and surrender of animal |
| Unattended animals (5-8.14), 1st offense | $200 |
| Unattended animals, subsequent offenses | $500 |
Santa Fe County licensing and permit fees
Per the county's own current Appendix A, as replaced by Ordinance 2017-1:
| Licensing | Fee |
|---|---|
| Altered Dogs | $10.00 annually |
| Unaltered Dogs | $25.00 annually |
| Duplicate Tag | $5.00 |
| Permits | Fee |
|---|---|
| Cat kennel (annual) | $50.00 |
| Kennel able to house 20 dogs or less | $50.00 |
| All other kennels | $200.00 |
| Exotic animal (annual) | $200.00 |
| Potentially dangerous or dangerous dog | $200.00 |
Santa Fe County impoundment and violation fines
| Impoundment | Fee |
|---|---|
| 1st impoundment | $10.00 |
| 2nd impoundment | $20.00 |
| 3rd impoundment | $40.00 |
| 4th impoundment | $80.00 |
| Subsequent impoundments | Double the previous impoundment fee |
| Fines for violations | 1st | 2nd | 3rd and each thereafter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restraint/Running at Large/Trespassing/Nuisance/Disturbing the Peace | $25.00 | $60.00 | $100.00 |
| Neglect/Care/Maintenance | $50.00 | $200.00 | $300.00 |
| Cruelty | $50.00 | $200.00 | $300.00 |
| No Rabies Vaccination | $15.00 + proof of vaccination | ||
| All Other Fines | $200.00 |
An animal carcass retrieval by an Animal Control Officer costs $50. The ordinance also states, verbatim: "In addition to the fines due to the County, the pet owner shall also be responsible for any and all boarding fees accrued at the shelter and the state spay/neuter deposit if applicable," meaning the table above is not necessarily the full cost of a violation once boarding accrues.
A county handout that contradicts the county's own current ordinance
A separately hosted county document, AC_Fines.pdf, still live on the county's own site, states the dog license fee as a flat "$10.00" with no altered/unaltered split, directly conflicting with the ordinance's own Appendix A figures above ($10 altered, $25 unaltered). The handout's continued publication alongside a conflicting current ordinance is disclosed here rather than resolved.
The county's maximum general penalty, and why it's lower than the original ordinance
Beyond the specific fine table, the county's 2017 amendment sets a general maximum: "Any person who violates any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction of violating this Ordinance, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $300 and/or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 90 days." This is a lower maximum than the original 1991-6 ordinance's own penalty clause, which allowed "a fine not exceeding $500.00 and/or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six (6) months." The 2017 amendment explicitly supersedes that older figure; this is a confirmed textual change over time, not a live conflict between two currently valid numbers.
Why the city-versus-county distinction matters for your actual bill
Which fine schedule applies to you depends entirely on where the violation occurred, not where you live. A restraint violation inside city limits runs through the city's tiered, altered-status-dependent table above. The identical kind of violation in unincorporated Santa Fe County runs through the county's flat, repeat-offense table instead, and the two are not remotely similar in structure, let alone dollar amount. Our Santa Fe dog rules guide covers this same jurisdictional split in full.
How Santa Fe's fine structure compares to Albuquerque's
New Mexico's other major city in this series runs a genuinely different fine philosophy worth knowing if you split time between the two. Albuquerque dropped its own city dog license and correspondingly its own city-level licensing fine structure, leaving Bernalillo County to run the primary licensing and fine schedule for that metro area. Santa Fe instead runs two full, independently-operating fine schedules, city and county, simultaneously and permanently. Our Albuquerque dog fines guide covers that city's own structure for direct comparison, useful if you're weighing where a particular violation would actually cost more.
What the license fee itself avoids, beyond the fine table
Every fine in this guide assumes a violation has already happened. A current license from whichever portal applies to your address, cityofsantafe.docupet.com for city residents or santafe.docupet.com for county residents, doesn't just satisfy the licensing requirement itself; it also reduces the practical friction of every other interaction with animal control described throughout this series, faster stray reunification, faster identification if your dog is involved in an incident, and proof of the rabies vaccination both fine schedules implicitly assume you have. Our Santa Fe dog license guide covers both fee tables directly.
What repeat offenses actually mean for your wallet over time
The city's own tiered structure rewards, or rather doesn't punish twice as hard, a first-time lapse relative to a pattern of repeat violations. A single missed leash moment costs an altered-dog owner $25 the first time, a manageable inconvenience. The same owner's fourth citation within a 12-month window costs $250, ten times as much for what the ordinance treats as the same underlying violation repeated. The county's own structure escalates similarly in relative terms, from $25 to $100 across three offenses for the same restraint category. Neither jurisdiction's fine structure is designed to be affordable to ignore repeatedly, and both make that design intent explicit in their own published numbers.
Fines connect back to the same jurisdictional question as everything else
Every number in this guide only applies once you know which government's ordinance actually governs the specific address where the violation occurred, the same recurring theme across this entire series. Our Santa Fe dog rules guide covers that jurisdictional map in full, and our where dogs are not allowed in Santa Fe guide covers the specific restraint requirement most of these fines actually enforce, so you know exactly what conduct triggers which number before it happens to you.
A stray pickup adds impound fees on top of any citation
Beyond a straightforward citation, a dog picked up as a stray in Santa Fe County faces its own separate impound fee schedule, starting at $10 for a first impoundment and doubling with each subsequent one, on top of whichever violation fine actually applies. Our lost dog in Santa Fe guide covers the full reclaim process these impound fees sit inside, including the hold periods that determine how much time you have before those fees start accruing at all. Our adopting a dog in Santa Fe guide covers what happens to a dog once that hold period lapses and it becomes available for a new home instead.
Where the rest of this series covers the rules behind these numbers
Our Santa Fe dog rules guide covers the jurisdictional split these two fine schedules sit inside. Our where dogs are not allowed in Santa Fe guide covers the restraint rule these fines actually enforce. Our dangerous dogs in Santa Fe guide covers the process behind the county's $200 dangerous-dog registration fee.
Frequently asked questions
What is the fine for an unleashed dog in Santa Fe? Inside city limits, $50 for an unaltered dog or $25 for an altered dog on a first citation, rising to $500 or $250 on a fourth citation within 12 months. In the county, $25 for a first offense, $60 for a second, and $100 for a third and beyond.
Is the fine higher for an unaltered dog in Santa Fe? Yes, at every tier of the city's restraint fine table, an unaltered dog's owner pays exactly double what an altered dog's owner pays for the same offense.
What is the fine for animal abandonment in Santa Fe? $500, raised from $200 by the city's 2025 amendment bill.
How much does it cost to license a dog in Santa Fe County? $10 a year if altered, $25 a year if unaltered, per the county's current ordinance and its actual licensing portal. A separate county handout states a flat $10 with no split, which conflicts with the current ordinance and portal.
What is the fine for having my dog on a median too long in Santa Fe? The city's own bill states $200, but multiple news outlets report it was amended to $50 before final passage.
What is the maximum penalty under Santa Fe County's animal ordinance? A fine not exceeding $300 and/or imprisonment not exceeding 90 days, per the 2017 amendment, lower than the original ordinance's $500 and six-month maximum.
Sources
- City of Santa Fe, Prohibiting Animals on Medians Bill 2025-22, PDF
- Santa Fe County, Ordinance No. 2017-1, PDF
- Santa Fe County, Animal Control Ordinance No. 1991-6, PDF
- Santa Fe County pet licensing, DocuPet
- City of Santa Fe pet licensing, DocuPet
No Municode-hosted version of Santa Fe's city code could be verified. Nothing from that host is cited above.
