Kings County, CA Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Kings County's Chapter 4 (Animals and Fowl) does not impose breed-specific bans such as a pit bull or Rottweiler prohibition for the unincorporated area. Instead, the County follows California's behavior-based dangerous-dog framework: the owning or harboring of any dog that is vicious or potentially dangerous, as defined by California Food and Agriculture Code Section 31601 et seq., is treated as a nuisance and may be an infraction. Under that state framework, a 'potentially dangerous' dog is one that has, for example, bitten a person or repeatedly behaved aggressively, while a 'vicious' dog is one that has caused severe injury or has been declared dangerous and continued the behavior. California law (Food & Ag Code Sec. 31683) specifically allows cities and counties to regulate dangerous dogs but does not permit declaring a dog dangerous based solely on its breed, and mandatory spay/neuter or breeding rules may be applied to specific breeds only by ordinance, not as an outright ban. As a result, no breed is illegal to own in unincorporated Kings County, but any dog of any breed that bites or behaves dangerously can be declared dangerous, subjected to confinement and control conditions, and ultimately removed if the owner fails to comply. Owners of dogs involved in bites should expect investigation by Kings County Animal Services.