Gardena, CA Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Chapter 6.20, Pigeons and Doves, is one of the few Title 6 animal chapters that Gardena wrote as its own city ordinance rather than adopting from the county, carried forward from the prior code at Section 5-1.401 through 5-1.405. Section 6.20.010 bars keeping any kind of pigeon within the city in the residential Zones R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-4 established by the city's zoning laws, except pedigreed homing, high-flying, or air-performing pigeons. Section 6.20.020 then sets a twenty-five-foot buffer: no person may erect or maintain a pigeon house, dove cote, or other structure, or keep pigeons or doves, within twenty-five feet of any dwelling house, though pigeons may be kept in a fully enclosed structure at least twenty-five feet from the nearest dwelling, or an owner may keep them within twenty-five feet of the owner's own home.

A written council permit is required to keep and liberate carrier or homing pigeons for exercise or racing within twenty feet of any door, window or opening of a dwelling. Lofts must stand at least eighteen inches off the ground on posts or pillars, and the floor and lower two feet of the sides must be covered in galvanized iron, concrete, or eighteen-gauge wire mesh no coarser than one-half inch. Section 6.20.030 limits confinement flights of homing and air-performing pigeons to no more than one and one-half hours in the morning and again in the afternoon, and Section 6.20.020(C) requires lofts to be scraped or cleaned at least three times a week for sanitation.