Vallejo, CA Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Section 31683 of the Food and Agricultural Code, part of Chapter 9 of Division 14 (Potentially Dangerous and Vicious Dogs), gives Vallejo express authority to adopt or enforce its own program for controlling potentially dangerous or vicious dogs, incorporating all, part, or none of the state chapter, and even punishing a violation as a misdemeanor or imposing a program more restrictive than the state's. The same sentence draws the hard line: except as provided in Health and Safety Code Section 122331, no program regulating any dog can be specific as to breed.

That means Vallejo cannot single out pit bulls, Rottweilers, or any named breed for muzzling, mandatory sterilization, liability insurance, or a ban; classification has to run through the behavior-based categories the Legislature defined in the same chapter. Section 31602 defines a 'potentially dangerous dog' as one that, unprovoked, forces a defensive action to prevent injury on two separate occasions within 36 months, bites a person with an injury less severe than the 'severe injury' threshold in Section 31604, or twice within 36 months kills or seriously injures a domestic animal off its owner's property.

Section 31603 defines a 'vicious dog' as one that, unprovoked, inflicts severe injury or death on a human being, or one already listed as potentially dangerous that keeps offending or is kept in violation of the confinement requirements in Sections 31641 through 31643. The Legislature's own findings in Section 31601 frame the whole chapter: attacks by uncontrolled dangerous dogs, particularly on children, are a statewide problem existing law could not adequately address, which is why the state occupies the classification question and leaves enforcement detail to cities.