Yolo County Code Sec. 6-1.401.1 requires that any dog off its owner's private property be restrained by a leash no longer than 8 feet. Limited exceptions cover law-enforcement dogs, licensed hunting dogs, organized training/obedience activities, and dogs actively herding on agriculturally zoned parcels. Yolo County Animal Services (operated through the Sheriff's Office) enforces the leash law countywide.
Yolo County's leash law lives at Sec. 6-1.401.1 of the County Code. The substantive rule is direct: when a dog is in any area other than private property where the dog is maintained by or on behalf of its owner, the dog must be restrained by a leash not exceeding 8 feet in length. The code lists four narrow exceptions: (1) the dog is assisting a peace officer in law-enforcement duties; (2) the dog is under the control of a licensed hunter pursuant to a Fish and Game Code license; (3) the dog is enrolled and actively participating in a training class, obedience course, exhibition, or competition conducted by an organization with the permission of the grounds operator; or (4) the dog is actively herding on a parcel zoned for agriculture. The leash law is enforced by Yolo County Animal Services, which serves the unincorporated area and the cities of Davis, Woodland, West Sacramento, and Winters, plus the UC Davis campus. All dogs in Yolo County must also be licensed with current rabies vaccinations - a prerequisite for releasing a dog from impound and for resolving any leash-law complaint.
Allowing a dog to be off-leash in violation of Sec. 6-1.401.1 is an infraction. Penalties typically begin with a warning, escalate to administrative citations, and can include impoundment of the dog under the County Code. An off-leash dog that bites or injures a person or another animal can trigger additional 'dangerous dog' proceedings under California Food & Agricultural Code Sec. 31601 et seq.
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