Alameda, CA Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Alameda has no breed-specific legislation. Chapter VII of the Municipal Code regulates dangerous animals by conduct, not breed. Section 7-10.1 defines a 'dangerous animal' as one that, unprovoked and aggressively, inflicts severe injury on or kills a human, an animal seized and convicted under California Penal Code dogfighting provisions (Sections 597.5/599aa), or a listed potentially dangerous animal that keeps exhibiting the same behavior. A 'potentially dangerous animal' is one that, unprovoked, twice within 36 months requires defensive action to prevent injury off the owner's property, or bites a person. None of these definitions reference any breed, so the standard is behavior-based and breed-neutral. This is consistent with California Food & Agricultural Code Section 31683, which allows local dangerous-dog programs but prohibits a local jurisdiction from declaring a dog 'potentially dangerous or vicious' based solely on its breed. While California law permits breed-based mandatory spay/neuter programs under Section 122331, Alameda's code contains no such breed program. In short, no breed is banned, restricted, or subject to extra requirements in the City of Alameda purely because of breed.