Madera County, CA Animal Ordinances: Pet Limits (2026)
Key Facts
- No-license threshold
- Up to 4 animals
- Kennel status triggers at
- 5 or more
- Kennel lot minimum
- 1 acre
- Kennel building setback
- 50 ft from lot line
- Scope
- Unincorporated Madera County only
Summary
Keep four or fewer dogs, cats or other small domesticated animals at an unincorporated Madera County home and no kennel license is required: five or more triggers 'kennel' status and licensing.
'Kennel' means any facility, house or building where five or more individual dogs, cats or other small, domesticated animals over the age of four months are kept, whether the keeping is for pleasure, profit, breeding, rescuing or exhibiting, and is subject to the kennel licensing provisions of this Code, as found in Section 6.04.290, et seq. The kennel licensing provisions of this Section shall apply immediately without regard to the length of time animal keeping, as described in this Section, has been occurring at the affected facility, house, or building.
(Ord. No. 708, § 3, 7-9-24)
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 52).
Full Breakdown
County Code § 18.04.288 defines a 'kennel' as any facility, house or building where five or more dogs, cats or other small domesticated animals over four months old are kept, whether for pleasure, profit, breeding, rescuing or exhibiting, and that status triggers the kennel-license requirement in § 6.04.290 regardless of how long the keeping has been going on. Below five animals, no kennel license or zoning approval applies. A licensed kennel itself needs zoning approval too: it can't be sited on a lot under one acre, and any non-residential kennel building must sit at least fifty feet from an adjoining lot line in a district permitting residential use (§ 18.94.030). Governs unincorporated Madera County only.
Violations & Fines
Keeping five or more dogs, cats or similar animals without the required kennel license and zoning approval is a code violation subject to Animal Services enforcement, fines and license-revocation proceedings.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many pet dogs or cats can I keep without a license in unincorporated Madera County?
Does the five-animal kennel threshold apply only to commercial breeders?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Madera County
California rules heatmap·Compare Madera County to another location·View the California animal ordinances overview
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