Animal Ordinances in La Mesa, CA (2026)
11 verified animal ordinances for La Mesa, California, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Chickens & Livestock
La Mesa's zoning code lets single-family lots in the R1 and R1A residential zones keep chickens and, on larger parcels, other livestock. Section 24.05.020(D)(3)(e) allows a minimum of two hens, no roosters, per two thousand square feet of lot area, capped at twenty, while subsection (f)(2) permits one horse, goat, or sheep on lots over half an acre in the R1R and R1E zones.
La Mesa Backyard Chicken and Livestock Limits
Some RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code § 24.05.020(D)(3)(e),(f)(2)
3.In zones R1E, R1R, R1S, R1, and R1A, for the sole use and pleasure of the family occupying the premises, animals may be kept as follows, subject in addition to all applicable limitations and regulations of Title 8: ... e.A minimum of two chickens, excluding roosters, per two thousand square feet of lot area, up to a maximum of twenty. Enclosures shall be covered and comply with all setback re...
Dog Leash Laws
Section 8.04.130 bars any dog from being at large in La Mesa unless it is on a leash with a suitable collar, including a choke chain, that gives its handler immediate and satisfactory control. The same section bans letting any other livestock or domestic animal run at large, but explicitly carves out cats from that at-large prohibition.
La Mesa Dog Leash and Animals at Large Law
Some RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code § 8.04.130
8.04.130 - Animals running at large. No person owning or having the care, custody or control of any livestock or other domestic animal (other than cat), shall permit the same to be at large. No person shall allow any dog to be at large without having said dog on a leash with a suitable collar for said dog, including but not limited to a choke chain, which allows immediate and satisfactory contr...
Breed Restrictions
In the City of La Mesa, dangerous and guard dog law isn't written locally: Chapter 8.11 of the Municipal Code adopts San Diego County's Code of Regulations by reference for guard-dog and potentially-dangerous-animal declarations, hearings, and impoundment, while keeping a separate city penalty clause for violations.
La Mesa Dangerous Dog Declaration Rules
Significant RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code §§ 8.11.020, 8.11.060
8.11.020 - Guard dogs, dangerous dogs or potentially dangerous animals. Adopted by reference, based on Section 62.669.5 of the San Diego County Code of Regulations. ... 8.11.060 - Penalty. Whenever any act is prohibited or declared to be unlawful, or an offense, or doing of any act is required, or the failure to do any act is declared unlawful or a misdemeanor by the provisions of this chapter ...
Beekeeping
La Mesa Municipal Code § 8.04.040 bars anyone from keeping bees or maintaining an apiary except where the zoning ordinance allows it, and only in the R1R and R1E single-family zones. Every legal apiary must sit at least one hundred feet from the traveled portion of any public road and six hundred feet from any dwelling other than the beekeeper's own.
La Mesa Beekeeping and Apiary Distance Rules
Significant RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code § 8.04.040
8.04.040 - Keeping of bees. No person shall keep bees or maintain an apiary (except as provided in the Zoning Ordinance). The following regulations shall apply where bees are allowed: (a)Distance of apiary from roads. No person shall place or keep an apiary, or cause or allow an apiary to remain, so close to a public road as to constitute a nuisance or hazard to persons using such road and in n...
Exotic Pets
In the City of La Mesa, it is unlawful to own, possess or maintain any wild or exotic animal within city limits under Municipal Code Section 8.04.020, a category defined in Section 8.04.010 to include animals not normally domesticated in the United States or not normally allowed as pets in California, such as lions, tigers, bears, wolves, raccoons, foxes, skunks, ferrets and nonhuman primates.
La Mesa Wild and Exotic Animal Ban
Heavy RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code §§ 8.04.010, 8.04.020
Wild/exotic animal. All animals which are not normally domesticated within the United States, and or, not normally allowed as pets in California by the Department of Fish and Game, including but not limited to lion, ferret, tiger, ocelot, cougar, bobcat, wildcat, bear, raccoon, fox, wolf, coatimundi, skunk, opossum, coyote, nonhuman primate (monkey, chimpanzee, etc.) irrespective of its actual ...
Wildlife Feeding
Section 8.04.290 makes it unlawful to intentionally feed or place feed out for any wild animal in La Mesa, naming opossums, skunks, raccoons, foxes and coyotes as covered species. The ban does not reach feeding wild birds generally, but that carve-out itself stops at wild pigeons, which stay banned outright under the neighboring Section 8.04.280.
La Mesa Wild Animal Feeding Ban
Heavy RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code §§ 1.01.080, 8.04.290
(1)General penalty. It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision or fail to comply with any of the requirements of this code. A violation of any of the provisions or failing to comply with any of the mandatory requirements of this code shall constitute an infraction; except for any violation of the zoning, building, mechanical, housing, plumbing, fire, or emergency code (includi...
Pet Limits
In the City of La Mesa, the zoning code, not the animal code, sets numeric pet limits. Section 24.05.020(D) caps dogs at two per multi-family unit and up to five per single-family lot in every residential zone, from R1E through RB. Cats are limited to two per dwelling, rising to ten if the extras are spayed or neutered, and each home may keep two adult potbellied pigs.
La Mesa Caps Dogs and Cats Per Household
Some RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code § 24.05.020(D)(3)
3.In zones R1E, R1R, R1S, R1, and R1A, for the sole use and pleasure of the family occupying the premises, animals may be kept as follows, subject in addition to all applicable limitations and regulations of Title 8:a.Two adult dogs per multi-family dwelling unit and up to five adult dogs for a single-family dwelling unit.b.Two adult cats per dwelling unit. The number of adult cats may be incre...
Cat Rules
La Mesa does not require cats to be confined: Section 8.04.130 exempts cats from the citywide ban on letting animals run at large that applies to dogs and livestock. A stray cat picked up by animal control still carries a redemption fee under Section 8.10.110, and zoning caps ownership at two adult cats per dwelling, or up to ten if the extras are spayed or neutered.
La Mesa Cat Ownership, Impound and Limit Rules
Light RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code §§ 8.04.130, 8.10.110, 24.05.020(D)(2)(b)
No person owning or having the care, custody or control of any livestock or other domestic animal (other than cat), shall permit the same to be at large. ... 8.10.110 - Fee for stray cats impounded in the field. Every person desiring a stray cat picked up by the animal control department must have the cat confined either in a cage or other type of container so as to prevent injury to the office...
Pet Groomer Rules
In the City of La Mesa, pet grooming is a permitted principal use listed under Retail Sales and Service, allowed by right in the C, CN, CD and CM commercial zones, so a groomer can open without a conditional use permit under La Mesa Municipal Code § 24.06.020(A), as long as the site meets the applicable zone and parking standards.
La Mesa Zoning for Pet Grooming Businesses
Few RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code § 24.06.020(A)
A.TABLE OF PERMITTED PRINCIPAL USES AND STRUCTURES DESCRIPTION ZONES WHERE PERMITTED ... ... 5. RETAIL SALES AND SERVICE ... ... m. Pet grooming C, CN, CD, CM
Veterinary Clinic Zoning
La Mesa allows veterinary service including a pet hospital as a permitted principal use only in the C (General Commercial) and CM (Light Industrial and Commercial Service) zones, not in the Neighborhood Commercial (CN) or Downtown Commercial (CD) zones, under La Mesa Municipal Code § 24.06.020(A).
La Mesa Veterinary Clinic Zoning Rules
Light RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code § 24.06.020(A)
A.TABLE OF PERMITTED PRINCIPAL USES AND STRUCTURES DESCRIPTION ZONES WHERE PERMITTED ... ... 5. RETAIL SALES AND SERVICE ... ... r. Veterinarian service including pet hospital C, CM
Bird Protection
Section 8.04.280 bans feeding any wild pigeon in the City of La Mesa outright, with no exceptions written into the section. Because the city's general penalty clause classifies Title 8 offenses that lack their own stated punishment as infractions, feeding wild pigeons is punishable as an infraction under Section 1.01.080, carrying a fine of up to two hundred fifty dollars.
La Mesa Wild Pigeon Feeding Prohibition
Heavy RestrictionsLa Mesa Municipal Code §§ 1.01.080, 8.04.280
(1)General penalty. It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision or fail to comply with any of the requirements of this code. A violation of any of the provisions or failing to comply with any of the mandatory requirements of this code shall constitute an infraction; except for any violation of the zoning, building, mechanical, housing, plumbing, fire, or emergency code (includi...
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