City of Masvingo (Dog Licensing and Control) By-laws, 2025

These by-laws require dogs in the City of Masvingo to be licensed and set out how the council handles strays and nuisance animals, covering licence applications, the register, the prohibition on keeping a nuisance dog, impounding, sale and destruction, inspection and enforcement, the council's exemption from liability for loss of a dog, and a cap on the number of dogs at any premises.

The First Schedule sets the response: a dog at large may be impounded or shot whether or not vaccinated; where it has bitten someone the owner pays the health bills and compensation determined by the court; and a nuisance dog not at large may also be impounded or shot.

Fees are US$1 to apply, US$5 for a dog licence and US$10 for a bitch, US$5 to replace a badge, and US$2 per dog to apply to keep more than the permitted number.

Penalties are US$100 where a dog at large with a contagious disease bites someone, US$50 each for an unvaccinated dog at large, a ferocious unmuzzled dog at large and an unvaccinated dog that bites, US$40 for a bitch at large on heat, US$30 for a dog at large with a contagious disease, US$20 for keeping an unlicensed dog, US$10 each for dog nuisance, a vaccinated dog that bites and each extra dog beyond the threshold. An unpaid liability after 90 days carries up to level 4 or two years' imprisonment.