Apple Valley, CA Animal Ordinances: Animal Hoarding (2026)

Apple Valley has no standalone animal-hoarding ordinance, but hoarding situations are reachable through existing Town Code and state law. The Town's numeric pet limits, generally up to four dogs and four cats, with up to eight animals only under an Animal Control Permit requiring all animals to be spayed or neutered, directly cap the most common dog and cat hoarding scenarios under Table 15.01.125A; exceeding those limits without the proper permit is itself a violation. The Town Code requires every domestic animal owner to provide potable water, adequate food, and weatherproof shelter, so the deprivation and lack of care that characterize hoarding violate these care standards. Any violation of the animal chapters is declared a public nuisance to be abated by means such as licensing, removal, containment, restraint, spaying or neutering, or maintaining a healthy environment, giving the Town authority to act where too many animals create filth, health hazards, or unsanitary conditions. The Town of Apple Valley Animal Services department, which operates its own field services and shelter, can investigate, seize, and impound neglected or unlawfully kept animals. These Town tools sit alongside California Penal Code Section 597, which criminalizes cruelty and neglect, and Section 597.1, which allows officers to seize animals lacking proper care. Together, the pet limits, care standards, nuisance abatement, and state cruelty law give Apple Valley the means to address hoarding even without a section using that label.