Alameda, CA Animal Ordinances: Animal Hoarding (2026)

Alameda does not have a standalone animal-hoarding ordinance, but hoarding situations are reachable through existing city code and state law. The City's numeric limit of three dogs over four months per premises (Section 7-3.7) caps the most common hoarding scenario for dogs, and exceeding it - outside a permitted commercial use - is itself a violation. Section 7-9.1 (Cruelty to Animals) makes it unlawful to 'cruelly beat, torture, misuse, deprive of food or water, or otherwise maltreat any animal,' which captures the neglect, malnutrition, and lack of care that characterize hoarding. Section 7-4.2 requires animal quarters and yards to be kept sanitary, and Section 7-4.3 lets the City abate conditions constituting a public nuisance, both of which apply when too many animals create filth or health hazards. The City's animal control function, run by the Alameda Police Department with the Alameda Animal Shelter (FAAS), can seize and impound neglected or unlawfully kept animals. These city tools sit alongside California Penal Code Section 597, which criminalizes cruelty and neglect, and Penal Code Section 597.1, which lets officers seize animals lacking proper care. There is no separate per-cat limit in the city code, so multi-cat hoarding is addressed mainly through the cruelty, sanitation, and nuisance provisions and state law rather than a head-count cap.