Yorba Linda, CA Animal Ordinances: Exotic Pets (2026)

Yorba Linda Municipal Code § 18.20.640 lists the animals prohibited within residential districts of the City. Subsection A bans roosters and other crowing-type birds or fowl outright, with a narrow exception for up to four peacocks and peahens in the R-A, RLD, R-E or OSR zones, and only if their sound does not disturb surrounding residents. Subsection B is the general wild-animal ban: wild, exotic or non-domestic animals not otherwise permitted under § 18.20.630 are prohibited citywide in residential zones, which rules out species such as large exotic cats, primates, venomous reptiles and similar non-domestic animals that fall outside the dogs, cats, small mammals, birds, fish, fowl, rabbits, equine and cleft-hoofed animals that § 18.20.630 lists as permitted.

Subsection C separately bans any species whose possession is already prohibited by State or Federal law, layering the local zoning prohibition on top of state wildlife-possession restrictions. Subsection D bars keeping a permitted species in a way that fails to protect its health and physical care or creates a public health, safety or nuisance violation, so even an animal that is technically allowed can become a code violation if it is neglected or creates a nuisance for neighbors. Because § 18.20.640 sits in the same Article 7 animal-keeping chapter as the permitted-animal list in § 18.20.630, code enforcement can act against a wild or exotic animal purely as a zoning violation, without needing a separate Orange County Animal Control citation.