Arcata Municipal Code Art. 6 Other Animals

No owner shall permit any chicken, duck, turkey or other fowl, or any horse, mule, cow, jenny or other domestic animal or any animal kept as a pet to run upon the property of another.

The running at large of any horse, mule, donkey, cow, hog, sheep, goat or cattle of any kind, in or upon any street, avenue, alley or any public place, or upon the property of another where the same have no right to be, is hereby declared to be a nuisance, and it shall be unlawful for the owner or person in charge of any such animal to suffer or permit the same to so run at large. This section shall not apply to miniature horses under the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Ord. 1582, eff. 10/9/2025)

It shall be unlawful for any person to wantonly or willfully throw stones or other missiles at any animal.

It shall be unlawful for any person to frighten or attempt to frighten any horse or other animal carrying persons or otherwise along the street, alleys or avenue of the City.

No person shall keep any cattle, horses, mules, burros, swine, sheep or goats within the corporate limits of the City in any place except within a substantial enclosure; provided, however, that this section shall not be applicable to any such animal while being worked or while being driven to and from pasture or market, or while it is under the immediate personal control of some person, or when substantially picketed.

Within this section, "substantial enclosure" means a barn, corral or an area of land enclosed by a fence of sufficient strength and so constructed as reasonably to prevent any such animal within such barn, corral or area of land from breaking or forcing its way out of or through the same or escaping therefrom.

It shall be the duty of the Animal Control Officer to take up and safely keep in the city pound any animal that may be found running at large in violation of Section 5311 of this code, but he shall not take up an animal that is in the immediate charge of any person who is driving it in or through the city, or that is upon private property, without the permission of the owner of such private property.

No person shall strike, threaten to strike, tease, harass or interfere with any official police dog except when such action is in accordance with established training exercises. Violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by six (6) months in the county jail or a five hundred dollar ($500) fine, or both.

It shall be unlawful for any person to permit, keep, or allow any animal to be kept upon their property in violation of Article 3 of Chapter III of the City of Arcata Land Use and Development Guide, and any amendments thereto.

TITLE V—SANITATION & HEALTH