Apple Valley, CA Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

We found no breed-specific ban in the Town of Apple Valley Municipal Code. The Town's animal control chapter (Title 15) regulates problem dogs through behavior-based provisions, such as licensing requirements and rules against unlicensed vicious dogs and animals running at large, rather than through any breed prohibition. This is consistent with California Food and Agricultural Code Section 31683, which provides that, except for a narrow Health and Safety Code exception, no program for regulating dangerous or vicious dogs may be specific as to breed. That exception (Health and Safety Code Section 122331) allows cities and counties to enact breed-specific mandatory spay or neuter and breeding programs, but those are not bans on ownership. The Town Code does require sterilization in some situations, for example dogs and cats adopted from the Town of Apple Valley Animal Shelter must be spayed or neutered (Section 15.01.095), and animals kept in excess of the number allowed by Table 15.01.125A under an Animal Control Permit must be sterilized, but these rules apply to all dogs and cats regardless of breed. In short, owners of any breed, including pit bulls, Rottweilers, and similar dogs, may keep them in Apple Valley; the Town addresses individual dangerous animals based on conduct, not breed.