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(a) Any person or owner of an attack, guard or sentry dog (collectively "guard dog") that operates or maintains a business to sell, rent or train a guard dog in the unincorporated area of the County who is required to obtain an operator's permit from the County pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 121916 (the permittee) shall pay the annual permit fee approved by the Board for this type of permit. The person or owner shall also obtain and pay the fee for a guard dog operator premises permit for each location where the person or owner houses a guard dog.
(b) The Department may suspend an animal from use as a guard dog if the Department determines the animal is not healthy enough to work or if the Department has advised the operator that it intends to declare the dog a dangerous dog. The Department may also permanently bar an animal from working as guard dog, if the Department declares the dog a dangerous dog as provided in this chapter.
(c) A permittee under this section shall comply with all the following requirements:
(1) Supply each animal with sufficient, good and wholesome food and water as often as the animal's feeding habits require.
(2) Keep each animal and each animal's quarters in a clean and sanitary condition.
(3) Provide each animal with proper shelter and protection from the weather at all times. An animal shall not be overcrowded or exposed to temperatures detrimental to the welfare of the animal.
(4) Not allow any animal to be without care or control in excess of 12 consecutive hours.
(5) Take every reasonable precaution to ensure that no animal is teased, abused, mistreated, annoyed, tormented or in any manner made to suffer by any person or by any means.
(6) Not maintain or allow any animal to exist in any manner that is, or could be, injurious to that animal.
(7) Not give an animal any alcoholic beverage, unless prescribed by a veterinarian.
(8) Not allow animals that are natural enemies, temperamentally unsuited or otherwise incompatible to be quartered together or so near each other as to cause injury, fear or torment.
(9) Not allow any tack equipment, device, substance or material that is, or could be, injurious or cause unnecessary cruelty to any animal to be used on or with an animal.
(10) Keep or maintain animals confined at all times on the premises for which the permit has been issued unless the Department grants the permittee special permission to remove an animal from the premises. If a guard dog escapes, the owner or custodian shall immediately notify the Department of the escape and make every reasonable effort to recapture it. The owner or custodian shall also notify the Department within 24 hours of the animal's recapture.
(11) Give proper rest periods to any working animal. Any confined or restrained animal shall be given exercise proper for the individual animal under the particular conditions.
(12) Not work, use or rent any animal that is overheated, weakened, exhausted, sick, injured, diseased, lame or otherwise unfit.
(13) Not use or work any animal the Department has suspended from use until the Department releases the animal from suspension.
(14) Not display any animal bearing evidence of malnutrition, ill health, unhealed injury or having been kept in an unsanitary condition.
(15) Keep or maintain each animal in a manner as may be prescribed to protect the public from the animal and the animal from the public.
(16) Provide conspicuously posted, durable signs of sufficient size containing both a clear pictorial depiction of a guard dog and a legible written warning of the presence of a guard dog for every location that houses a guard dog or where a guard dog is working. These signs shall be maintained at every entrance and at not more than 50 foot intervals so as to be clearly visible on the fence or other enclosure where the dog is to be housed or working. Each sign required by this subsection shall measure a minimum of 11 x 8.5 inches and use lettering of a minimum of 1.25 x .5 inch (91 point) and of contrasting color with the background. The signs shall also include the name and telephone number of the guard dog owner or operator housing or providing the dog.
(17) Take any animal to a veterinarian for examination or treatment when ordered by the Department.
(18) Display no animal whose appearance is, or may be, offensive or contrary to public decency.
(19) Not allow any animal to constitute or cause a hazard, or be a menace to the health, peace or safety of the community.
(20) Obtain and maintain liability insurance from an insurance company authorized to transact insurance business in the State of California, with coverage amounts that comply with this subsection. The insurance shall provide liability insurance coverage for the permittee for any loss due to bodily injury or death with not less than $500,000 per occurrence and for any loss due property damage with not less than $500,000 per occurrence. The permittee shall also furnish a certificate of insurance to the Department. The certificate shall provide the insurer will notify the Department in writing at least 30 days prior to policy cancellation or non-renewal. The certificate shall also provide all the following information:
(A) The full name and address of the insurer.
(B) The name and address of the insured.
(C) The insurance policy number.
(D) The type and limits of coverage.
(E) The effective dates of the certificate.
(F) The certificate issue date.
(21) Obtain a signed and dated acknowledgment from each person who hires a guard dog from the permittee before the guard dog is sent on assignment. The acknowledgment shall contain the name, address and telephone number of the permittee, the name, address and telephone number of the person who hired the guard dog and the location where the guard dog will be working while on assignment. The acknowledgement shall also contain the following language:
"In addition to other provision of law, any person or business entity who hires or has custody of a guard dog is responsible for preventing the dog from being at large, as defined in the San Diego County Code, and from preventing the dog from attacking or injuring a person engaged in a lawful act. A person who hires a guard dog should immediately notify the guard dog operator in the event a guard dog escapes from its enclosure and the Department of Animal Control at (619) 236-2341 in the event an escaped dog is not immediately recaptured."
"The County Code also provides that a person who has custody or control of a dog which bites a person, shall notify the Department as soon as practicable after the incident and not more than 24 hours after the incident."
(22) Provide the Department with a copy of the signed acknowledgment required by subsection (21).
(23) Isolate and segregate at all times any sick or diseased animal from any healthy animal, so that the illness or disease will not be transmitted from one animal to another. Any sick or injured animal shall be isolated and given proper medical treatment.
(24) Immediately notify the owner of any animal held on consignment or boarded if the animal refuses to eat or drink beyond a reasonable period, is injured, becomes sick or dies. In case of death, the body of the dog shall be retained for 12 hours after notification has been sent to the owner.
(d) Reimburse the Department for all costs incurred in enforcing the provisions of this section.
(Added by Ord. No. 9420 (N.S.), effective 2-2-02; amended by Ord. No. 9528 (N.S.), effective 2-27-03; amended by Ord. No. 9663 (N.S.), effective 8-14-04; amended by Ord. No. 10036 (N.S.), effective 2-26-10; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
When a person is convicted of a violation of this chapter that is classified as a misdemeanor, the sentencing court may order, in addition to any other sentencing provision, that the convicted person be prohibited from owning, possessing, caring for or having any contact with animals for a period of up to three years if the court deems that the action is necessary to ensure the animal or public safety or welfare. The court may also require the convicted person to immediately deliver all animals in the person's possession, custody or control to the Department for adoption or other lawful disposition and for the convicted person to provide proof to the court that the person no longer has possession, custody or control of any animal.
(Added by Ord. No. 10036 (N.S.), effective 2-26-10; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
The intent of this Article is to limit the number of roosters that may be kept on a premises and to ensure that roosters are treated humanely to minimize the potential for a public nuisance, illegal cockfighting and the raising of birds to be used for cockfighting to protect the public health, safety and welfare.
(Added by Ord. No. 10166 (N.S.), effective 10-13-11; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
As used in this Article, the following words have the following definitions:
(a) "Premises" means one or more lots or parcels that are contiguous and that are under common ownership.
(b) "Rooster" means a male chicken that:
(1) Is six months of age or older;
(2) Has full adult plumage; or
(3) Is capable of crowing.
(c) "Net property size" means the actual size of the premises, excluding any roadways or portions thereof, as calculated by the County Survey Records System.
(Added by Ord. No. 10166 (N.S.), effective 10-13-11; amended by Ord. No. 10548 (N.S.), effective 8-23-18; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
(a) Beginning on January 1, 2012, no person shall keep or maintain on any premises more roosters than are listed in the following table for the applicable net property size of the premises:
Net Property Size of Premises | Maximum Number of Roosters |
< .5 acre | 1 |
.5 to 1 acre | 4 |
> 1 to 5 acres | 6 |
> 5 acres | 20 |
Each individual rooster that exceeds the number listed in the table above for the applicable size of the premises constitutes a separate violation of this ordinance.
(b) Each rooster shall be housed in an enclosure that shall be located a minimum of 50 feet from the property line and 150 feet from any adjacent residence.
(c) (1) Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to commercial poultry ranches the primary purpose of which is to produce eggs or meat for sale for human consumption, public or private schools, County-operated animal shelters or other animal-welfare organizations that employ humane officers as described in Corporations Code 14502.
(2) Subsection (a) shall not apply to a member of a local chapter of 4-H or Future Farmers of America (FFA) provided all of the following factors are met:
A) Written proof of current membership in 4-H or FFA shall be provided to any animal control officer, humane officer or peace officer upon demand;
B) Written documentation and approval of a 4-H or FFA project that involves the roosters shall be provided to any animal control officer, humane officer or peace officer upon demand. The approval shall be from the 4-H, the County 4-H Advisor or the FFA. The documentation shall detail the nature of the project, number of roosters included in the project, breed of each rooster, duration of the project, purpose for keeping the roosters, and address where the roosters are kept and maintained;
C) The roosters are on the property designated in the 4-H or FFA project documentation;
D) The number of roosters on the premises does not exceed the number of roosters specified in the 4-H or FFA project documentation; and
E) Any person seeking to assert this exemption shall allow an onsite inspection of the premises by an animal control officer, humane officer or peace officer upon demand to verify initial and continued eligibility for this exemption.
(d) Nothing in this Article shall be construed as authorizing the keeping of any roosters in violation of any other County ordinance including, but not limited to, the Zoning Ordinance. If there is any conflict between this ordinance and any other County ordinance, the most restrictive provision shall apply.
(e) No person shall maintain or keep any rooster by means of a tether attached to an object. Each individual rooster that is tethered constitutes a separate violation of this ordinance.
(f) Each rooster shall, at all times, be provided with:
(1) Access to water and shelter from the elements (rain, wind, direct sun, etc.).
(2) Sufficient room to spread both wings fully and to be able to turn in a complete circle without any impediment and without touching the side of an enclosure.
(3) Clean and sanitary premises that are kept in good repair.
(g) An animal control officer, humane officer or peace officer may enter private property to inspect the property when the person entering has reasonable cause to believe that there is a violation of this section.
(h) (1) Amortization of nonconforming rooster enclosures. Any nonconforming rooster enclosure which was in place before August 24, 2018 shall be in compliance with the requirements of Section 62.692(b) no later than August 24, 2020. A rooster owner may apply for one six-month extension of this period. The Director may grant that extension upon determining that the operator would be subjected to unreasonable financial hardship if forced to come into compliance.
(2) Any nonconforming rooster enclosure shall not be expanded, enlarged, extended or altered except that the use may be changed to a conforming use.
(Added by Ord. No. 10166 (N.S.), effective 10-13-11; amended by Ord. No. 10259 (N.S.), effective 5-23-13; amended by Ord. No. 10548 (N.S.), effective 8-23-18; amended by Ord. No. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)