Pico Rivera, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Chapter 18.22 of the Zoning Code, the City's Supplemental Use Regulations, addresses animal keeping alongside home occupations and other accessory uses. Section 18.22.060 opens with a purpose clause explaining the standards are meant to regulate how animals, including household pets, small animals, and livestock, may be kept in the City. Subsection B sets the pet cap: no person may keep or maintain more than four dogs and/or cats, counted in combination rather than four of each, once the animals are more than three months old, on any lot in a residential zone.

Puppies and kittens under three months are excluded from the count, giving households room for a litter before the cap applies. The ordinance ties the privilege to personal use, stating the dogs and/or cats must be kept only for the personal use and enjoyment of the occupants of the property where they live, language the City has used to distinguish a private household from an unlicensed boarding or breeding operation. The same section separately caps poultry, pigeons, and horses, and bars bees, oxen, and swine outright, so a household mixing dogs, cats, and backyard chickens must satisfy each numeric limit independently.

Community and Economic Development's code enforcement division and the City's Animal Control/Community Preservation staff field complaints and conduct inspections for pet-count violations, working separately from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's contract patrol of the Pico Rivera Station.