OXNARD LEASH LAW

Owning a dog is a big responsibility. It is like caring for another child! This responsibility extends past the proper care and training for your dog but also to your dog’s behavior.

Oxnard City Code Section 5-42 requires dog to be on a leash. All dogs must be under the control of the guardian at all times. This means when the dog is not on your property, it must be under your direct control. The best way to control your dog is with a leash. This law aims to protect the health and safety of our citizens.

In the City of Oxnard, dogs may not run at large in places open to and used by the public such as the public beach, street, sidewalk, alley, or park without the owner or another responsible person capable of controlling the animal on a leash. When animals are not on a leash, they must be restrained either behind a fence or in some other enclosure that will prevent their escape.

A leash can save your dog’s life and can keep your dog out of fights, out of garbage cans, out of traffic, and out of dangerous places. But most of all, it can keep your dog close to you so he won’t get lost.

SEC. 5-42.  DOG LEASHING REQUIRED.
No person shall permit any dog owned, harbored or controlled by that person to be on any public beach, street, sidewalk, alley, park or place of whatever nature open to and used by the public unless the dog is securely leashed, and the leash is continuously controlled by a responsible person capable of controlling such dog or unless such dog is securely confined in a motor vehicle.

SEC. 5-43.  EXEMPTED ACTIVITIES.
Section 5-42 does not apply to dogs:
(A) Actively engaged in dog shows or field trials;
(B) Actively engaged in hunting game upon public property which is open for such hunting;
(C) Maintained, trained and used exclusively for the working, herding or guarding of other animals, while such dog is actively engaged in such working, herding or guarding;
(D) Located in an area of any public beach designated and posted by the city manager or designee as a leash-free area of the city; and
(E) Trained and authorized as police service dogs.

Please be a responsible pet owner and abide by the law. Violations are a minimum penalty of one hundred dollars ($100.00).

Pick Up After Your Pets

Everything on the grass and the sidewalk washes right into the harbor and the ocean!

DOG DEFECATION

Keep Our City Clean – Don’t Litter.
Please Pick Up After Your Pets

When walking your dog, always carry a supply of plastic bags and clean up after your dog. Dispose the waste in a sanitary manner by disposing in a trash receptacle or sanitary disposal unit.

Dog droppings are a nuisance and a health hazard attracting flies and spreading disease. Oxnard City Code requires that dog-owners pickup after their pets, both at home and in public places.

Oxnard City Code Sec 5-45:
(A) No person shall, knowingly or by failure to exercise due care, permit any dog owned, harbored or controlled by that person to defecate on any public property or on any private property without the consent of the person owning or occupying the private property.
(B) If the person owning, harboring or controlling the subject dog immediately and properly removes such defecation material from such public or private property, the person shall not be in violation of this section.
(C) Any person having the control or custody of a dog on public or private property shall at all times have in his/her possession a wrapper, bag, container or other receptacle suitable for pickup and removal of any defecation material deposited by such dog.

For a first conviction, the minimum penalty shall be a $100 fine; for a second conviction within one year of the first conviction, the minimum penalty shall be a $200 fine; for a third or subsequent conviction within one year of the first conviction, the minimum penalty shall be a $500 fine.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ANIMAL SAFETY UNIT