Anaheim follows California state guidance and OC Animal Care policy requiring spay or neuter for adopted shelter animals, with intact-animal permits required for breeding dogs and unaltered animals subject to higher license fees.
Anaheim Municipal Code Title 6 incorporates OC Animal Care's intact-animal permit framework. All dogs and cats adopted from the OC shelter must be sterilized before release per California Food and Agriculture Code. Owners keeping intact dogs over four months old must purchase an unaltered license at a substantially higher annual fee than altered animals. Repeat impounds of unaltered animals trigger mandatory sterilization before release. Licensed breeders must maintain records and may need a kennel permit if they exceed pet limits. The policy is designed to reduce shelter intake and euthanasia rates countywide.
Failing to sterilize an adopted shelter animal, keeping intact animals without proper licensing, or breeding without records exposes owners to fines and mandatory surgery before reclaim.
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