Yorba Linda, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)

Yorba Linda Municipal Code § 18.20.630(A) sets the residential cap at three dogs or cats, counted cumulatively, once each animal is older than four months; younger animals born on-site to a permitted pet do not count separately while nursing, and under § 18.20.630(G) that grace period runs up to four months for dogs and cats before they must be counted or relocated. Keeping four or more dogs or cats, cumulatively, is defined as a kennel under § 18.20.630(A) and cannot be operated in a residential district without a conditional use permit granted by the Planning Commission, which follows the public hearing procedures of Chapter 18.36.

The same subsection extends the three-animal cap to any small domestic animal treated like a dog or cat, expressly naming miniature horses, miniature goats and pot-bellied pigs, so a household cannot avoid the limit by keeping non-traditional small pets instead. The cap applies on top of the separate allowances in § 18.20.630(B) for up to 10 small mammals, birds, reptiles or nonpoisonous snakes and § 18.20.630(C) for fish and amphibians in aquariums or ponds, which are counted independently of the dog-and-cat limit. Property owners must also comply with the general animal maintenance standard of § 18.20.680, which requires manure, odor, dust, fly and noise conditions to be controlled so as not to harm neighboring properties, and with the leash and restraint duty in § 18.20.650(B).

A property found with an unpermitted fourth dog or cat is treated as operating an unlawful kennel and is subject to zoning enforcement under Chapter 18.40.