Welcome to Pet Friendly Asheville

This website is for folks who are traveling to Asheville and want to know about accommodations, boarding, and recreation. We're former innkeepers, so we have answers to a lot of your questions. We also recommend the Asheville visitor site, ExploreAsheville.com, which has an extensive section on pets. They are, however, restricted to Buncombe County.

We will include information about areas outside the city and county. If you'd like to be included here, simply e-mail us with your information, and we'll add it.

A few rules

Restrictions generally don't extend to service animals.

Asheville requires pets that are not in their own yards to be on leashes. The County doesn't require leashes, but it's a good idea. Downtown, most areas expect that the leash will be about 6 feet (city ordinance requires a minimum of 8 feet).

You can't take pets into picnic areas, pond areas, Riverside Cemetery, the children's play areas of any city park, or into any areas designated or permitted by the city as part of a community festival or event area.

And pets MUST be up-to-date with vaccinations, flea regimens, and kennel cough immunization. Otherwise, you're just a bad citizen, or thoughtless visitor (not to mention the danger to your own pet).

 

You may not tie a pet to an object and leave it to go into a store. If the store doesn't allow pets, then you'll have to pass it up (they'll learn!).

You are expected to carry waste bags, pooper-scooper, or however you clean up after your pet. People in this area generally love pets, and take very personally poor treatment. So don't you leave a pet in a closed vehicle, for example.

In case of emergency

Vets are arranged by area, and almost all have walk-in emergency service during business hours.

If you have a medical emergency outside business hours, call REACH Animal Hospital at 828-665-4399.