Lakewood, CA Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Lakewood contracts with Los Angeles County for animal control under the original Lakewood Plan, so Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control administers this program citywide. Food and Agricultural Code Section 31602 defines a potentially dangerous dog as one that, unprovoked, engages twice within 36 months in behavior requiring a person to take defensive action, bites a person causing an injury less severe than severe injury, or twice within 36 months kills or injures another domestic animal off its owner's property. Section 31604 defines severe injury as any injury causing muscle tears or disfiguring lacerations or requiring multiple sutures or corrective or cosmetic surgery. Section 31603 elevates a dog to vicious if, unprovoked, it inflicts severe injury or kills a person, or if a dog already listed as potentially dangerous repeats the behavior or breaks its confinement conditions.

Once an animal control or law enforcement officer finds probable cause under Section 31621, the matter goes to a hearing before the animal control department or a court; Section 31625 lets officers impound a dog immediately if it poses an immediate threat, with the owner liable for boarding costs. A dog found potentially dangerous must be licensed, vaccinated, and listed on a registry under Section 31641, kept indoors or in a secure, child-proof enclosure, or leashed and under adult control off-property under Section 31642, and is removed from the list after 36 incident-free months under Section 31644. A dog adjudicated vicious can be destroyed by the animal control department if release would threaten public safety, or released under court-ordered conditions, and its owner can be barred from owning any dog for up to three years under Sections 31645 and 31646.

Section 31683 bars any of this from turning on breed: no program regulating any dog shall be specific as to breed, except that Health and Safety Code Section 122331 lets a city adopt breed-specific mandatory spay or neuter or breeding rules alone, never a dangerous or vicious designation by breed.