Cathedral City, CA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

The leash text in the Cathedral City Municipal Code sits in chapter 11.44, which governs parks and recreation areas, and § 11.44.110(A) sets the rule. No dog owner can bring a dog into or upon a public park or recreation area, excluding city dog parks, or suffer or permit it to enter or remain there, unless the dog is led by a cord or chain not more than six feet long. Two exceptions are printed: a dog specially trained and certified by an accredited service dog organization and used to aid and guide blind or disabled persons, and a dog whose presence is authorized in writing by the city manager or designee, such as for a dog training class or dog show. A dog owner is any person owning, or having the control, custody, or care of, any dog (§ 11.44.100).

Other park-dog duties sit in the same section. Owners must clean up their dog's feces immediately and dispose of it in a sanitary manner (subsection B). No dog that is sick, in heat, or injured, or that displays aggressive behavior toward other dogs or humans, is permitted in any public park or recreation area (subsection C). No dogs are permitted on the grounds of the Cathedral City Community Amphitheater unless authorized by the city manager or designee (subsection D). The general park prohibition on letting animals loose in § 11.44.060(A) carves out a dog in compliance with §§ 11.44.110 or 11.44.120, and a cat when led by a cord or chain not more than six feet long.

A city dog park is any park or recreation area designated by city signage as a dog park that allows dog owners to let their dogs off-leash. Section 11.44.120 sets the conditions: dogs must be spayed or neutered unless an exception applies, at least four months of age, vaccinated for rabies and currently licensed by the County's animal control authority. A dog owner must be thirteen years or older, no more than two dogs are allowed per owner at any one time, and every dog must stay within fifty feet of its owner and under the owner's voice control if not on leash. Owners must prevent digging and restore any holes, and no food or treats of any kind are permitted. The city council can amend both sections by resolution.