Yuba County, CA Animal Ordinances: Animal Hoarding (2026)

Unincorporated Yuba County does not have a stand-alone animal-hoarding ordinance, but several provisions reach hoarding situations. The zoning Development Code 11.32.050(5) caps the number of dogs by zone (4 in RS/RM/RH, 6-8 in rural zones) and requires a hobby-kennel or commercial-kennel permit above those counts; where the Environmental Health Director finds household pets kept in such number or manner as to be injurious to health, safety, or welfare, the keeping may be declared a public nuisance subject to abatement under Development Code Chapter 11.67. The Animal Care Services chapter adds enforcement tools: Code 8.05.210 declares animals that habitually disturb a neighborhood or are kept in nuisance conditions a public nuisance and allows seizure and impoundment (a determination requires complaints from three separate households over 12 months for noise/stray nuisances). Code 8.05.340 ("Animal neglect") makes it unlawful to let any animal go without food, water, care, and attention, or to allow excreta to accumulate so as to be a health hazard or nuisance - an infraction. Code 8.05.150 lets the Animal Care Officer impound animals found in need of custodial care or in conditions constituting a health hazard. Above all, California Penal Code 597 et seq. (animal cruelty), which the code cross-references, applies to severe neglect typical of hoarding cases.