Lakewood, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Under Lakewood Municipal Code § 9320(A)(4), the keeping of domestic animals in an R-1 (Single-Family Residential) zone is permitted only in the numbers the City Council has expressly authorized, and the code spells those numbers out: not more than two dogs over four months of age and not more than two cats over four months of age per single-family residence. Puppies and kittens four months old or younger do not count toward the cap, so a litter born on the property is not an automatic violation until the animals age past that mark.

The same subsection separately allows not more than two horses and/or cows per acre, but only where the lot is at least one acre with more than 100 feet of frontage, a standard that reflects Lakewood's mostly small single-family lots from its post-war planned-suburb layout. Other animals, including birds, fowl, rabbits, fish and reptiles, are governed instead by Part 9 of Article IV of the Municipal Code, referenced in § 9320(A)(6), so a resident stacking multiple pet types needs to check that separate chapter too.

Because Lakewood contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for police service rather than running its own police force, day-to-day animal-control enforcement on excess-pet complaints is handled through the county's contracted animal control arrangement and the City's Community Development Department for zoning compliance, not a city police department.