Alameda, CA Animal Ordinances: Livestock (2026)

As a built-out island city, Alameda sharply limits hoofed livestock through its own code. For cattle, Section 7-5.1 prohibits using any ground in the City for keeping, stabling, feeding, herding, picketing, or milking cows in violation of the proximity rule, and Section 7-5.2 bars keeping any cow, steer, or bull in a shed, accessory building, or cow yard within 40 feet of any dwelling house. For equines, Section 7-6.1 bars keeping any horse, mule, or donkey in a stable, barn, stall, shed, or stable yard within 40 feet of any dwelling, schoolhouse, or church. For swine, Section 7-7.1 prohibits keeping any swine unless the enclosure is at least 300 feet from premises owned or occupied by any other person, and caps the herd at five head unless the enclosure provides one acre per head. Section 7-9.2 separately bars allowing any horse, mule, cow, goat, sheep, hog, ass, or domestic fowl to run at large, graze, or feed on any public street or, unless tethered, on any unfenced lot. These distance requirements make most livestock impractical on standard Alameda residential lots. The setbacks here are city-specific and stricter than Alameda County's rural animal-keeping standards, which do not apply inside the city.