Animal Ordinances in Madera County, CA (2026)

Madera County Code § 18.11.100

The noncommercial raising of poultry, rabbits and other similar small animals where the lot area is one acre or more provided that the number per acre, or combination thereof, shall not exceed twenty-four.3.All pens, coops, stables or barns for the keeping of the above indicated animals must comply with the structure setback requirements for this district and shall not be constructed within fif...

Madera County Code § 6.04.580

No person owning any animal or having the care, custody, control or possession of any animal shall offer, allow or permit such animal to run, be or remain at large on any public street, road, alley, park or other public place, or upon any private property without permission of the owner of said property. All dogs may be deemed running at large within the meaning of this section unless tied, res...

Madera County Code § 6.04.460

Upon receipt of a complaint about a vicious animal, the animal control officer shall investigate the circumstances upon which the complaint is based. If the animal control officer finds that the animal is a vicious animal, he shall notify the owner of the vicious animal, if known, of all the facts and circumstances. The animal control officer may order the owner to keep the animal within an enc...

Madera County Code § 6.20.010

Every person maintaining an apiary on premises other than that of his residence shall identify such apiary by affixing a sign thereto showing the name of the owner or person in possession of the apiary, his address, his telephone number, if any, and if there is no telephone, a statement of that fact.C.Such person shall affix such sign on the longer side of the hive or longer side of the super, ...

Madera County Code §§ 6.04.270, 6.04.020(K), 6.04.055

6.04.020 - Definitions. K."Wild animal" means any wild, exotic, dangerous or nondomestic animal, including but not limited to mammals, fowl, fish or reptiles. ... 6.04.270 - Wild animal—Permit. No person shall possess any animal not commonly kept or raised in the county as a domesticated animal and which is, or may be, in the opinion of the animal services department, dangerous to the health an...

Madera County Code § 6.36.040

Within the areas described in Section 6.36.030 above, the owner, lessee, resident or person exercising physical control of any private property, including businesses, shall at all times place garbage or other substances that would reasonably be expected to attract bears in private bear-proof containers for collection, or inside bear-proof structures.

Madera County Code § 18.04.288

'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...

Madera County Code § 6.04.160

The owner of each dog age four months or older in the unincorporated area of the county shall license the dog and have the dog vaccinated at the time and in the manner prescribed by this chapter. Except as provided in Section 6.04.230, it is unlawful to own, keep or control any dog unless a license has been procured as provided in this chapter. It is unlawful for any person owning, harboring, o...

Madera County Code § 6.04.232

It is the duty of each pet shop operator within the unincorporated areas of Madera County to notify the animal services department monthly of all sales of unlicensed dogs to residents of the county within the preceding month. This notice shall include the name and address of the purchaser of the dog, and the breed, sex and age of the dog sold. This information is to be used by the animal servic...