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

Chapter 8.05 tracks state law, Food and Agricultural Code §§ 31602-31603, rather than creating its own list of restricted breeds. A dog is 'potentially dangerous' under § 8.05.220 if, unprovoked, it engages twice in 36 months in behavior off its owner's property that forces someone to take defensive action to avoid injury; bites a person causing an injury less severe than the state code's 'severe injury' threshold; or twice in 36 months kills, seriously bites, or otherwise injures a domestic animal off its owner's property.

'Vicious' is the harder finding under § 8.05.230: a dog qualifies if it's seized under Penal Code § 599aa following an owner conviction under Penal Code § 597.5(a), if it unprovoked and aggressively inflicts a severe injury or kills a person, or if a dog already listed as potentially dangerous keeps that behavior up after its owner has been notified, or is kept in violation of Food and Agricultural Code §§ 31641-31643.

Neither declaration happens administratively. Under § 8.05.240, the Animal Care Officer or a law enforcement officer who finds probable cause must petition the Superior Court in the judicial district where the dog is kept for a hearing on whether to declare it potentially dangerous or vicious, and disposition of a dog formally declared either one follows Food and Agricultural Code § 31621. That court-based process, not a county administrative hearing, decides the outcome, and it applies the same way to every dog regardless of breed, size, or appearance.