Hawthorne does not ban any dog breed. California Food & Agricultural Code §31683 forbids cities from declaring a dog dangerous or vicious based on breed and requires that no dog-control program be breed-specific. Hawthorne instead regulates individual animals through its vicious-animal and impounding provisions in Title 6 of the Hawthorne Municipal Code.
No Hawthorne ordinance prohibits pit bulls, Rottweilers, or any other breed. State law controls: California Food & Agricultural Code §31683 provides that a city or county may adopt its own program for potentially dangerous or vicious dogs but that 'no program regulating any dog shall be specific as to breed.' The only narrow exception is California Health & Safety Code §122331, which lets cities adopt mandatory spay/neuter or breeding requirements targeted at a breed - but not ownership bans. Hawthorne has not adopted any breed-specific spay/neuter ordinance. Instead, the Hawthorne Municipal Code regulates animals by behavior. Its Title 6 provisions address vicious and dangerous animals and require that anyone whose property hosts such an animal warn city, county, postal, utility meter readers, and others who come onto the property with implied consent. Aggressive or biting dogs of any breed can be impounded under Chapter 6.04 (Impounding of Animals). California Civil Code §3342 separately imposes strict liability on dog owners for bites that occur in public places or where the victim is lawfully present, regardless of the dog's breed or prior history. Private parties - landlords, HOAs, and insurers - may still impose breed conditions in leases, CC&Rs, or policies; that private conduct is not preempted by §31683, which restrains only government regulation.
There is no breed-based offense to charge in Hawthorne. Enforcement is by individual conduct: a dog of any breed that bites, attacks, or behaves viciously may be impounded under Chapter 6.04 and handled under the city's vicious-animal provisions, which can require warnings, confinement, and other conditions. Failing to warn lawful entrants about a known vicious animal is a violation. A city that attempted to ban a breed outright would itself violate California Food & Agricultural Code §31683. Owners also face civil strict liability for any bite under Civil Code §3342.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Hawthorne runs a mandatory organic-waste program under California SB 1383: residents must keep food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard/green waste out of th...
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Hawthorne does not ban artificial turf, but its Water Efficient Landscaping ordinance treats synthetic turf differently from living plants, and residential d...
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Hawthorne does not mandate native plants, but its Water Efficient Landscaping ordinance pushes new and rehabilitated landscapes toward low-water, climate-app...
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Hawthorne has no ordinance restricting rain barrels or cisterns, and the city encourages conservation. Rainwater collection is governed mainly by California ...
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Hawthorne's Water Conservation Program assigns watering days by address parity and limits landscape irrigation to before 8 a.m. and after 6 p.m., not within ...
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Hawthorne abates weeds and unsafe vegetation under its nuisance and property-maintenance rules. Dead, decayed, diseased, or hazardous trees and weeds - and o...
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