San Francisco, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Health Code Section 37(a) sets two separate caps for residential districts in San Francisco, and a household must stay under both. The first cap covers dogs alone: keeping more than three dogs of age six months or older is unlawful unless the keeper obtains a proper permit and license to operate a dog kennel under Business and Tax Regulations Code Section 220. Because that cap counts only dogs six months or older, a puppy younger than six months does not count against the three-dog limit.

The second cap is a combined total: no more than four animals in any combination of dogs, hares, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, gerbils, chickens, or cats. The caps interact: a household keeping three dogs has already used three of the four combined slots, leaving space for only a cat, a rabbit, a chicken, or another listed animal before hitting the combined cap. The section is also written broadly about conduct. It is unlawful to "keep or feed" the listed animals within residential districts, so regularly feeding animals on a residential property counts toward the caps just as owning them does.

A resident who wants more than three dogs has a legal path, the dog kennel permit and license under Section 220; the four-animal combined cap for the listed species is stated in the quoted provision without a similar carve-out.