Fontana, CA Animal Ordinances: Mandatory Spay/Neuter (2026)

Fontana Municipal Code Sec. 4-69 makes spaying or neutering mandatory for any dog identifiable as a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, or a mix containing one of those breeds. Five narrow exemptions apply: a purebred registered with the AKC, UKC or a similar national registry that requires ownership-matched transfer paperwork; a law enforcement dog; a qualified service dog under Food and Agriculture Code Section 30850; a dog a licensed veterinarian certifies cannot be altered without a high risk of serious harm or death due to age or infirmity; and a dog licensed for breeding at a licensed kennel under Sec.

4-102. None of those exemptions survive a vicious-dog determination under Sec. 4-132: once a pit bull is declared vicious, it must be spayed or neutered within 30 days of that finding or the ordinance's effective date, whichever is later. Sec. 4-69(d) also bars selling or transferring an unaltered pit bull, except for the AKC/UKC-registered breeding dogs described above. Under Sec. 4-69(e), the police chief or designee must compile dog-bite statistics by severity, breed, and whether the dog was altered or a covered pit bull, and report them quarterly to the state public health veterinarian as required by Health and Safety Code Section 122331.