Buena Park, CA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

Section 6.20.070 makes it unlawful for any owner or person harboring a dog, licensed or not, to allow it "upon a public street, sidewalk, park, school ground, public place or upon any unenclosed lot or land except when held under leash by an able-bodied person." The leash duty is citywide and does not depend on whether the dog has ever bitten anyone.

The code carves out one exception: on the owner's own private property, § 6.20.090 bars the animal control officer from seizing, impounding or citing a leash violation as long as the dog has not strayed and has not attacked or bitten a person or another animal. A dog that strays but returns home may still be cited, but only impounded if the owner cannot be reached, in which case a written notice naming the holding location and release contact must be posted on the front door. Related duties round out the chapter: § 6.20.100 requires anyone with control of a dog to remove and dispose of its waste from public or another's private property and to carry the means to do so, and § 6.20.110 extends the same carrying requirement to city parks; both exempt visually disabled persons using seeing-eye guide dogs. Section 6.20.080 separately bars letting a female dog run at large while in heat.

Enforcement runs through the SEAACA animal control officer and the Buena Park Police Department, and a leash violation can be cited even where the dog never strays off a public right-of-way onto private ground.