Laguna Woods Municipal Code Ch. 5.02 General and Miscellaneous

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning. In addition all references to public officials or employees shall mean public officials or employees of the City of Laguna Beach.

(05) Animal means any vertebrate creature, domestic or wild, and includes these categories:

(1) Dog means any live or dead dog (Canis familiaris) over four months of age.

(2) Puppy means any Canis familiaris, live or dead, under four months of age.

(3) Cat means any live or dead cat (Felis Catus) over four months of age.

(4) Kitten means any Felis Catus, live or dead, under four months of age.

(5) Livestock means horses, ponies, stallions, colts, geldings, mares, sheep, rams, lambs, bulls, bullocks, steers, heifers, cows, calves, mules, jacks, jennets, burros, goats, kids, swine, and confined and domesticated hares and rabbits.

(6) Poultry means all domesticated fowl and all game birds which are held in captivity.

(7) Feral animals means animals normally found in the wild state, untamed and/or existing in a state of nature, which are being kept for exhibition purposes or as private pets. The term "feral animals" includes, but are not limited to, birds, amphibians and reptiles.

(8) Exotic animals means animals not native to the local environment, which are being kept for exhibition purposes or as private pets.

(9) Competition dog or cat means a dog or cat which is used to show, to compete or to breed, which is of a breed recognized by and registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC), United Kennel Club (UKC), American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA), The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), or other valid registry approved by the Animal Services Manager per City policy and meets at least one of the following requirements:

a. The dog or cat has competed in at least three dog or cat shows or sporting competition sanctioned by a national registry or approved by the City, within the last 365 days; or

b. The dog or cat has earned a conformation, obedience, agility, carting, herding, protection, rally, sporting, working or other title from a purebred registry referenced above or other registry or sport association approved by the City; or

c. The owner or custodian of the dog or cat is a member of a purebred breed club, approved by the City, which maintains and enforces a code of ethics for animal breeding that includes restrictions from breeding individuals with genetic defects and life threatening health problems that commonly threaten the breed; or

d. Dogs or cats which are appropriately trained and which are actually used for the herding of other animals, or as livestock guardians, hunting dogs, or such dogs or cats designated as breeding stock by an appropriate agency or organization approved by the City after consultation with knowledgeable professionals; or

e. Dogs or cats boarded in a licensed kennel, which boards and professionally trains such animals for use and resale.

(07) Animal Services Manager means the individual or individuals designated by the Laguna Woods City Manager as responsible for animal licensing and shelter services.

(08) Custodian is any person who intentionally provides care or sustenance for a dog or cat on behalf of another, or represents the interests of the owner.

(10) Enclosure means any structure used to immediately restrict an animal or animals to a limited amount of space, such as a room, pen, run, cage, compartment or hutch.

(15) Grooming parlor means any place where animals are groomed, clipped, bathed or otherwise conditioned as pets and/or for show in exchange for a fee, except as a service offered by commercial or service kennel and cattery.

(20) Humane death means the death of an animal brought about by an authorized person and by intravenous injection of a barbiturate anesthetic/propylene glycol mixture commercially available for this procedure.

(25) Humane society means any nonprofit organization existing for the purpose of preventing cruelty to animals, and which, on this basis, is or would be found qualified for the exemption provided in Revenue and Taxation Code § 23701d.

(28) Incapable of breeding means any dog or cat which has been examined by a California licensed veterinarian and determined to not be capable of reproducing. A certificate of sterility, signed by the veterinarian must be provided upon demand.

(30) License includes any document, tag or permit issued by the animal services program, for:

(1) Commercial establishments keeping animals or providing services related to animals, or selling domestic or nondomestic animals;

(2) Individual household pets.

(35) Operator means the legal owner or person in actual control of any activities involving animals.

(40) Owner means any person who is the legal owner, keeper, harborer, possessor or the custodian of an animal. ownership is also established by a person registering as the owner on a license or other legal document or by a person claiming ownership and taking possession of an animal.

(45) Owner of land or property means the person with the right to possession or control of the property or land.

(50) Permit means an authorization from the City, stating conditions under which animals may be kept in commercial and private establishments.

(55) Person includes any individual, business, partnership, firm, joint-stock company, corporation, association, trust, estate or other legal entity owning, harboring or keeping animals within the City.

(60) Pet shop means a person or establishment that buys for resale and sells at retail animals bred by others, whether as owner or agent or on consignment, and that sells or offers to sell to the general public at retail.

(65) Private animal owner means a person having bred, been given or purchased a dog, cat or other animal permitted by his title, for his personal use and enjoyment, and who keeps or maintains said animal within the City for a period of more than seven days.

(70) Private animal refuge means owners and harborers of unwanted animals of any breed, including crossbreeds, who provide food, shelter, confinement, licensing and spaying/neutering for a group of animals.

(75) Private breeder means a dog or cat owner/fancier who breeds an occasional litter of purebred animals for his personal use and enjoyment, from animals personally owned or leased for the breeding, who sells the resultant offspring neither for resale to commercial outlets, nor for purposes of research, testing or laboratory experimentation.

(80) Private exhibitor means any organization sponsoring, and all persons participating in, fairs, livestock shows, rodeos, purebred dog and cat shows, obedience trials, field trials and any other fairs or exhibitions intended to advance agricultural arts and sciences.

(85) Private kennel or cattery means any individual house, apartment, condominium, cooperative or other living quarters, where four or more dogs or four or more cats or any combination of four or more dogs and cats, over the age of four months are kept or maintained solely for the pleasure and enjoyment of the owner. Animals at a private kennel/cattery shall not exceed a maximum of six cats or dog or any combination thereof.

(90) Registration includes license.

(100) Research institution, approved, means a research laboratory, hospital, college or university which:

(1) Is nonprofit; and

(2) Conducts research on animals under humane conditions.

(105) Veterinarian means a state-licensed practitioner of veterinary medicine.

(110) Vicious animal means any dog, which, twice within a 12-month period, has physically harmed, bitten, attacked or otherwise caused injury to a person engaged in lawful activity, without provocation.

(Ord. No. 00-07, § 2(6.04.010), 10-18-2000; Ord. No. 09-02, § 1, 3-18-2009; Ord. No. 09-03, § 1, 5-20-2009; Ord. No. 25-02, § 3(Exh. A), 4-16-2025)

The Animal Services Manager is charged with the administration of the animal services program and the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 00-07, § 2(6.04.020), 10-18-2000; Ord. No. 25-02, § 3(Exh. A), 4-16-2025)

The Animal Services Manager, with the approval of the City Manager (Laguna Woods), may promulgate any necessary rules and regulations for the administration of the provisions of this chapter. Such rules and regulations shall be reasonable and designed to enhance enforcement of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 00-07, § 2(6.04.030), 10-18-2000)

(a) The Animal Services Manager, animal services officer, all peace officers (Laguna Beach and Laguna Woods) and any designated representatives of the Animal Services Manager are empowered to enforce the provisions of this title and any statute of the State relating to animals, unless otherwise provided by law. Animal services officers, accompanied by a police officer, may arrest a person without a warrant whenever they have reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a misdemeanor in their presence which is a violation of any such statute or ordinance.

(b) An animal services officer, within the legal constraints of the law, shall have the right to enter upon and inspect any public or commercial property where animals are being kept, for the purpose of examining or capturing any animal thereon. Any person who denies, prevents or obstructs such access to such commercial premises is in violation of the law.

(c) No person shall interfere with, oppose or resist any authorized person charged with the enforcement of this title while such person is engaged in the performance of his duties.

(d) The authority to carry firearms by animal services officers while performing their duties shall be limited to the following:

(1) Following proper training and approval of the Animal Services Manager, special services officers may carry a special immobilizing gun to be used only with discretion on animals.

(2) The Animal Services Manager shall establish and periodically review and revise as needed, a written policy memorandum on the use of immobilizing guns. Immobilizing guns shall be used in accordance with policies so established.

(Ord. No. 00-07, § 2(6.04.)040, 10-18-2000)

(a) A maximum combination of three cats and dogs, no more than two of which can be dogs, are permitted in any residence within the City, without a private kennel license.

(b) Household animals being fostered as a part of a not-for-profit organization/agency program shall not be included for the purpose of determining the number of household animals. The foster program shall be registered with the City and an individual animal shall be fostered in a particular residence for a period of no more than six months.

(c) Exception permit. Individuals residing in the City on the effective date of this section, who have more than the maximum number of animals as specified in Section 5.02.045, but not more than six animals, in their household shall apply for an exception permit from the City Manager within 180 days of the effective date of this section. The exception permit shall specific to the animals in the household at the time the permit is issued.

(Ord. No. 09-02, § 2, 3-18-2009)

No person shall conduct any rodeo or bull-riding, calf-roping, horse-bucking, steer wrestling, or any other similar exhibition or activity or any activity whatsoever which involves cruelty to horses, cattle or other animals.

(Ord. No. 00-07, § 2(6.04.045), 10-18-2000)

State Law reference— Cruelty to animals, Penal Code § 596 et seq.

The owner of any dead animal, other than a rattlesnake or bat, shall dispose of the carcass of such animal in a sanitary manner within twenty-four hours after said owner has knowledge of the animal's death. It shall be the duty of the animal services officer to take custody of all rattlesnakes and bats, and dead animals from the owner when requested.

(Ord. No. 00-07, § 2(6.04.050), 10-18-2000)

The Animal Services Manager shall be responsible for the disposal of all dead animals whose ownership cannot be established.

(Ord. No. 00-07, § 2(6.04.060), 10-18-2000)

Whenever deceased animals picked up by the animal services officer carry identification of any kind, the owner shall be notified and a notice shall be posted at the shelter giving such information in an easily visible location.

(Ord. No. 00-07, § 2(6.04.070), 10-18-2000)

It shall be the duty of the Animal Services Manager to maintain all records related to or required by this chapter and to attempt to identify any impounded, found or turned-in animal via registration check, identification tags, lost reports and diligent search for any tattoo marks.

(Ord. No. 00-07, § 2(6.04.080), 10-18-2000)