Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
I up
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Joe DeVries
City Administrator Deputy City
Administrator/Acting OAS
Director
SUBJECT: Revisions to the Animal Control
Ordinance
DATE: June 23, 2025
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt An Ordinance Amending Oakland Municipal Code 6.04 (Animal Control) To: (1) Reduce The Holding Period For Impounded Animals To 72 Hours; (2) Remove Requirement For Oakland Animal Services To Accept All Surrendered Animals; (3) Allow Finders Of Stray Animals To Temporarily Keep And Care For Found Animals In Lieu Of Delivering To Oakland Animal Services; (4) Require Outdoor Cats And Impounded And At-Large Dogs To Be Spayed Or Neutered; (5) Authorize Oakland Animal Services To Waive Fees Based On Financial Need; And (6) Make Other Minor Amendments Consistent With State Law
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Animal Control Ordinance in the Oakland Municipal Code (OMC) specifies the regulations regarding the care, licensing, and legal requirements regarding animal welfare in the City of Oakland (City). The Oakland Animal Services Department (OAS) is responsible for implementing the ordinance. For the past year, OAS has worked to create a comprehensive update to the ordinance. The proposed amendments include major changes for Council consideration, including changes to the regulations when an owner wishes to surrender their pet, the regulations regarding spaying and neutering animals, and the regulations regarding the time OAS is required to hold a stray animal before offering it up for adoption. The proposed amendments also include moderate/minor revisions that are designed to streamline the ordinance and clean up old language to ensure it aligns with state law, as detailed below.
The proposed revisions are intended to help OAS more effectively meet its mission to improve the lives of people and animals in our community by assisting injured wildlife, facilitating adoption of shelter animals, supporting guardians of companion animals, combating animal cruelty and neglect, and when needed, serving as the safety net for the neediest animals living in the City.
Jestin Johnson (Jun 27, 2025 08:34 PDT)
Jun 27, 2025
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance
Date: June 23, 2025 Page 2
Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Until 2014, the Animal Control Ordinance was implemented by the Oakland Police Department (OPD) with Animal Control Officers under the supervision of a police sergeant. Due to concerns about OPD’s resources and need to prioritize staffing to address crime, OAS was established as a division of the City Administrator’s Office in 2015 and became its own department in 2019.
Independence from OPD allowed for a different approach to animal control and saw existing partnerships with animal welfare organizations expand significantly. With its move to a free- standing department, OAS shifted the work from an enforcement approach to a more holistic, community-based approach focused on the welfare of the animals, the people they live with, and the communities they live in..
In 2025, OAS staffing is focused on meeting state and local mandates regarding animal welfare while its 200 volunteers and sister organization, Friends of Oakland Animal Services (FOAS) provide expanded services that keep animals thriving while in OAS’s care. This includes a robust dog and cat foster program which doubles shelter capacity, daily playgroups at the shelter to keep dogs active and community events including veterinarian clinics, adoption events, free spay/neuter services, and support to vulnerable families who wish to stay united with their pet but are facing unforeseen challenges.
Table 1 below provides a five-year lookback at the number of animals coming through the facility at OAS. It demonstrates a 37% increase in intake for dogs and a 62.5% increase for cats which necessitates changes to the ordinance to adjust to these current conditions. The three proposed major revisions to the ordinance are informed by these growing intake numbers.
Table 1 also demonstrates the success of the OAS/FOAS team in returning animals to their owner, finding new permanent homes, or transferring them to rescue organizations. The most notable outcome is the far column that shows a decline in euthanasia rates for dogs to the Table 1: Oakland Animal Services Annual Intake Data from 2019-2024
Dogs Intake # Stray # Stray %
Owner
Surrender
#
Owner
Surrender
% Adopt # Adopt % Transfer #
Transfer
% RTO # RTO %
Eutha
nasia
#
Euthanasi
a %
2019 2,564 1,595 62.2% 622 24.3% 373 14.5% 1,245 48.6% 492 30.8% 435 17.0% 2020 1,723 1,156 67.1% 348 20.2% 339 19.7% 688 39.9% 431 37.3% 268 15.6% 2021 2,037 1,264 62.1% 512 25.1% 805 39.5% 489 24.0% 496 39.2% 144 7.1% 2022 2,563 1,620 63.2% 742 29.0% 1,033 40.3% 815 31.8% 551 34.0% 145 5.7% 2023 3,301 2,062 62.5% 854 25.9% 1,473 44.6% 946 28.7% 659 32.0% 175 5.3% 2024 3,517 2,145 61.0% 881 25.0% 1,631 46.4% 1042 29.6% 630 29.4% 188 5.3% Cats Intake # Stray # Stray % OS # OS % Adopt # Adopt % Transfer
#
Transfer
% RTO # RTO %
Euth
anas
ia #
Euthana
sia %
2019 2,009 1,674 83.3% 269 13.4% 758 37.7% 795 39.6% 48 2.9% 194 9.7% 2020 1,550 1,290 83.2% 210 13.5% 787 50.8% 523 33.7% 45 3.5% 149 9.6% 2021 2,315 1,926 83.2% 309 13.3% 1,033 44.6% 792 34.2% 62 3.2% 176 7.6% 2022 2,712 2,088 77.0% 547 20.2% 1,166 43.0% 1,044 38.5% 88 4.2% 240 8.8% 2023 3,616 2,592 71.7% 905 25.0% 1,630 45.1% 1,277 35.3% 110 4.2% 285 7.9% 2024 2,860 1,890 66.1% 773 27.0% 1,448 50.6% 1,002 35.0% 79 4.2% 254 8.9% Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance
Date: June 23, 2025 Page 3
Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
lowest in the shelter’s history. In 2024, dogs had live outcomes over 94% of the time compared to 83% in 2019. The changes to the Animal Control Ordinance listed below will support the sustainability of this success into the future.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The proposed updates include both major and minor changes as discussed below.
Major Changes to the Ordinance
There are three major changes to the ordinance detailed below:
1. Owner surrenders
Currently, any person who is no longer able or willing to care for an animal may deliver the animal to OAS, and upon payment of a surrender fee, OAS is required to take the animal into custody. (OMC Section 6.04.110). The revisions remove the requirement for OAS to accept owner surrenders and make this permissive and subject to shelter capacity. The intent is to provide OAS with the discretion to develop its own intake criteria. Taking in owner-surrendered animals will still be provided as a service, for a fee, but would no longer be mandatory unless otherwise required under state law. The new language also adds clarification that the surrendering owner does not get to decide the ultimate outcome of the animal, and the decision to either adopt out, transfer, or euthanize is made by OAS.
OAS will still accept most surrendered animals but providing this discretion will help avoid two recurring problems that staff encounter on a regular basis: First, it allows OAS to deny people from outside the City surrendering animals to our facility instead of working with their local jurisdiction (something that costs the City resources it can ill afford). Second, it also allows staff to deny a surrendered animal if they have reason to believe the person surrendering it is not the owner—such as in the instances of community cats that are brought in that are thriving in their current environment and will not do as well inside the shelter. Staff identified instances where people have taken a neighbor’s cat and “surrendered” it to OAS, and under the current code, the shelter must take it in and will then spend scarce resources attempting to rehome it.
2. Impoundment
When an animal that was at large in the community arrives at the shelter, the current holding periods for impounded at-large animals varies between 72 hours and seven days. The proposed revision reduces the period from 7 days to 72 hours, which provides uniformity and removes the distinction between “owned” versus “unowned.” The current impoundment section (OMC Section 6.04.210) only refers to impounds based on animals found at large. The amendments clarify/streamline all the various types of impounds under one section to provide clarity for the reader, particularly the Animal Control Officers that need to cite the code frequently in the course of their work.
The amendments also clarify that impounded animals can be held in foster care during the hold period, which is a much better option to keep animals thriving than the shelter environment. The amendments also include a provision that provides if the state law were to change or state Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance
Date: June 23, 2025 Page 4
Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
funding was made available to increase hold periods, the ordinance would automatically adapt to state law; therefore, this section will not need to be rewritten. Last, there is an added provision that allows an animal to be deemed abandoned if an owner has not paid fees or costs related to impoundment within 10 days after written demand.
3. Spay/Neuter Rules
The proposed amendments expand and clarify the circumstances in which cats and dogs must be spayed or neutered (OMC Section 6.04.120). Currently, mandatory spaying or neutering requirements only apply to dogs impounded without a license (OMC Section 6.04.241A), dogs impounded on multiple occasions (OMC Section 6.04.241B), and dogs and cats adopted out to new owners by OAS (OMC Section 6.04.120). The amendments will require dogs and cats over the age of four months to be spayed or neutered in the following circumstances:
• Cats permitted or otherwise capable of roaming off the private, enclosed property of their owner or guardian, unless a California licensed veterinarian has certified in writing that the cat is medically incapable of reproducing.
• Dogs and cats sold, adopted, or transferred to a new owner by OAS, a humane society, or other animal rescue organization as required by Cal. Food and Agriculture Code §§ 30503, 31751.3.
• Dogs determined to be potentially dangerous or vicious pursuant to OMC Chapter 6.08. • Dogs impounded after being found running at-large or otherwise contrary to the provisions of this Chapter, as further provided in OMC Section 6.04.220. • The dog or cat’s owner has been cited on two or more occasions within a 24-month period for violation of any state or local law relating to the care and/or control of animals. • The dog or cat’s owner has been cited for violation of any state or local law regarding the sale, transport, or breeding of animals, including but not limited to the requirements set forth in OMC Section 6.04.360.
• OAS has received two or more verified complaints in the preceding 12-month period alleging that the owner has permitted the dog to run at large or escape in violation of OMC Section 6.04.070.
The proposed amendments include an exception for animals deemed by a veterinarian to be medically unfit to undergo the procedure.1 When the grounds for requiring a dog to be spayed or neutered is based on two or more complaints from the public (OMC Section 6.04.120A7), the owner shall be entitled to a hearing to contest the underlying allegations. Except for impounded animals and dogs determined to be potentially dangerous or vicious, enforcement of the new spay or neuter requirements will provide animal owners with a reasonable opportunity to come into compliance (i.e., by having the animal spayed or neutered) prior to any fines being assessed. Failure to spay or neuter an animal as required by the Ordinance shall not independently authorize OAS to impound or seize the animal.
Rationale for new Spay/Neuter Requirements
Nationally, and especially in built-out urban environments, the problem of severe overpopulation of dogs and cats have tragic consequences. Due to a variety of reasons, people do not alter their dogs and cats which allows for unwanted litters, places a huge burden on local shelters, and is the driving force in many communities behind high euthanasia rates where shelters just
1 See CA F&A Code 30503, 31751.3.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance
Date: June 23, 2025 Page 5
Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
do not have the capacity to care for these animals. Literally hundreds of thousands of animals are put to death each year because they are surrendered by owners who failed to alter their pets.
An additional problem with cats is the proliferation of feral cat colonies that sometimes plague neighborhoods with overpopulation and litters of kittens that die of malnourishment due to a lack of a consistent food supply. Although dedicated volunteers spread out into the community to try and trap-neuter/spay-release these cats to prevent continued overpopulation, this has become a losing battle in recent years.
The official position of the American Humane Society is that it supports the practice of appropriate juvenile spay/neuter and the establishment of high-quality, high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter clinics that ensure the accessibility and affordability of spay/neuter services for all pet owners across the country. The American Animal Hospital Association policy position supports the neutering of cats and dogs as young as eight weeks of age in order to help reduce the overpopulation issues that can be present in companion animals.
The American Veterinary Medicine Association cites studies that have repeatedly shown that spayed or neutered dogs and cats live longer, on average, than other dogs and cats, likely due to the health and behavioral benefits of the procedures, including a reduction in certain cancers and infections and also improves animal behavior by reducing certain behaviors. In cats, along with preventing unwanted litters, it reduces spraying and marking, and lowers the risk of mammary cancer.
The reasons people do not have their pets altered vary greatly and include the costs associated with the procedure, lack of access to timely veterinarian services, and a general lack of understanding about the health benefits of altering animals. Most people are supportive of altering their pet once they are provided education about the problem of overpopulation and the health benefits of doing so. A small percentage of people refuse to alter their pets because they are engaged in commercial breeding and see the pet as a source of income.
OAS, in partnership with all animal welfare organizations, does its best to provide educational resources and low-cost or free spay/neuter services in the community. Every month, OAS’s sister organization, the Friends of Oakland Animal Services (FOAS), conducts outreach events in frontline communities to provide free vaccinations, micro-chipping services, and to sign people up to have their pet altered at the shelter. The East Bay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (East Bay SPCA) provides low-cost spay and neuter services at its East Oakland Facility, as do various Bay Area Humane Societies and other animal welfare organizations.
Although research supports pets being altered, the research on the effectiveness of mandatory spay/neuter laws is less decisive. Due to the barriers cited above, there is concern that mandatory laws can cause people to avoid registering their pets, or that these laws will be used to unfairly target persons who cannot afford to alter their pets.
For these reasons, the new requirements for unaltered animals stop short of an outright mandate to spay and neuter all pets. Instead, they are focused on animals that OAS has in its possession or that have a record of being at-large after warnings from an Animal Control Officer. This aligns with the OAS goal of keeping pets and their owners together, healthy, and Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance
Date: June 23, 2025 Page 6
Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
thriving. FOAS has developed programming that has made a big difference in the lives of pet owners in Oakland by providing access to low-cost or free services, and has been able to expand those services year-over-year due to the generosity of the community of animal welfare supporters in Oakland.
Moderate/Minor Changes to the Ordinance
There are a number of issues that are addressed in moderate or minor changes to the Animal Control Ordinance, detailed below. In addition to the 10 issues discussed below, there are non- substantive changes that update terminology and align with state law.
1. Animals found at large
The proposed amendments allow finders of stray animals to keep and care for such animals in their own homes, rather than mandating all at-large animals be taken into OAS custody.
Generally, animals do better in a home environment as opposed to being held at the shelter, where there is an increased risk of exposure to communicable diseases and higher stress levels. Finders who choose to care for an animal rather than bring them to OAS must provide notice and have the animal scanned for a microchip. The proposed amendments add specifications to the type of notice that should be provided to OAS, including a description of the animal, a photograph, and the location. Currently, the code requires finders to “give notice” to OAS but is silent on what such notice should entail.
Additionally, the current section on found animals (OMC Section 6.04.270) authorizes finders to deliver animals and provide notice to the East Bay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (EBSPCA) in lieu of the City, requires the EBSPCA to accept such animals, and authorizes the delivery upon demand of any found animal to EBSPCA. Although the EBSPCA does, in practice, accept hundreds of found animals and serves as an important partner to OAS, the City cannot legally require the EBSPCA to accept all such animals absent a written contract.
Revision of OMC Section 6.04.270, incorporated into the new Section 6.04.205, authorizes but does not require the taking up of animals by EBSPCA. The most important component of the new Section 6.04.205 is that finders and the EBSPCA continue to be required to provide OAS with sufficient notice of found animals, so that when owners of lost pets contact or come into OAS in search of the animal, OAS can still facilitate reunification of the animal to its owner even when such animal is not physically at OAS.
2. Licensing and Fee Waivers
The dog licensing regulations are currently set out in multiple OMC sections (6.04.030,
6.04.040, 6.04.050, 6.04.060, 6.04.090, 6.04.100, 6.04.130, and 6.04.140). The proposed amendments combine and streamline these sections into OMC Sections 6.04.030 and 6.04.050.
Currently, license fees may only be waived “upon the recommendation of the Associated Charities, the City Auditor and the City Treasurer” and upon approval by City Council (OMC Section 6.04.130). The proposed revisions empower OAS to waive individual license fees without seeking Council approval. The ordinance would also authorize OAS to waive other fees based on financial need, such as fees related to impoundment and medical expenses. In practice, these fees are already commonly waived for those unable to pay when costs are prohibitive to someone’s ability to redeem an animal in custody or retain ownership of an animal. Requiring Council approval for each instance of waiver is not practicable, and OAS Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance
Date: June 23, 2025 Page 7
Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
seeks to update its waiver policy to allow for the development of consistent and fiscally responsible regulations.
The proposed amendments change the requirement to wear tags on a “collar or leather band” to “harness or collar.” Upon sale or transfer of any dog to a new owner, the proposed amendments add a requirement to provide the new owner with a valid license and vaccination information, and to notify OAS within 30 days with updated ownership information (OMC Section 6.04.060).
The revised ordinance removes the requirement for veterinarians to use a city-issued form to certify and notify OAS any time a dog receives an anti-rabies vaccination (OMC Section
6.04.040). This is because current practice is that veterinarians issue vaccination documentation according to their own practices- the City does not provide or require a specific form to be used. Furthermore, it is the duty of individual dog owners, not veterinarians, to provide evidence of vaccination for purposes of obtaining a license. Last, the fees for a duplicate license have been removed (OMC Section 6.04.030) since the licensing company OAS uses does this for free as part of their service.
3. Care and control
The proposed amendments change the heading of OMC Section 6.04.070 from “Dogs at large” to “Control of dogs in public,” as this more accurately reflects the contents of this section. The prohibition against “chain leashes or tethers” has been removed since this is vague and arbitrary and not enforced whatsoever (OMC Section 6.04.070A).
Under current formatting, service dogs and police dogs are exempt from OMC Section 6.04.070 in its entirety—including leash requirements, prohibition against leaving dogs in vehicles to the extent that the dog’s health or welfare is endangered, duty to maintain control so as not to create a nuisance, and picking up requirements. Revisions narrow this exemption so it only applies to leash requirements, and only to the extent that compliance would interfere with the dog’s normal duties. Finally, provisions that “encourage” dog owners to carry disposable bags has been removed (even though it is a good idea) because this is not legally enforceable. (OMC Section 6.04.070D).
4. Examination/rabies sections
OMC Sections 6.04.150-6.04.170 were removed as these regulations are covered by state law, and there is no real benefit to restating within the OMC.
5. Disposal of dead animals
OMC Section 6.04.260 currently requires that anyone with a dead animal on their property, whether the animal is owned or wild, must bury the animal according to certain burial standards (three feet deep for cats, dogs, fowls, or birds, four feet for all other animals) or cremate the animal within 48 hours. Existing requirements are outdated, impractical, and inconsistent with current best practice. Additionally, 48 hours is not always sufficient for cremation when a medical autopsy is required. Revisions remove specifications and simply require disposal in a safe and sanitary manner.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance
Date: June 23, 2025 Page 8
Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
6. Nuisances
Under OMC Section 5.04.310, proposed amendments slightly refine the standard for what constitutes a “nuisance” animal and enumerate a list of common nuisance behaviors. Currently, the standard for a nuisance animal is one that “disturbs peace and comfort,” or “interferes with…comfortable enjoyment of life or property[.]” This standard is vague and subjective and can easily result in biased enforcement. The proposed amendments change the standard to be based on unreasonable interference with health, safety, welfare, and quiet enjoyment. The proposed amendments also add unpermitted livestock as a nuisance per se that will allow the City to more expeditiously address land use violations related to animals.
7. Feeding feral pigeons
OMC Section 6.04.345 was added in 2007 via Ordinance No. 12817 to curb the feeding of pigeons in the Laurel and Dimond shopping areas. The proposed amendments add OMC Section 6.04.355 (harassment of wild animals), which clarifies that it is unlawful to intentionally feed any wildlife, including pigeons, anywhere in the City; therefore, OMC Section 6.04.345 is being removed as it is no longer necessary.
8. Wild animals
OMC Section 6.04.355 is being added to clarify that it is unlawful to harass wildlife, including breeding, feeding, and other behavior that intentionally interferes with animals’ normal behavioral patterns. Harassment of wildlife is already prohibited by existing state law.2 Revisions clarify that feeding and harassment of wild animals is prohibited throughout the City, not just in certain areas, and codification of this prohibition will authorize local enforcement by Animal Control Officers. OMC 6.04.340 (“Wild birds”) is being amended to clarify that it is not lawful to capture waterfowl or birds of prey.
9. Sale of animals
OMC Section 6.04.360 currently prohibits the sale of chicks, rabbits, ducks, and fowl “as pets or novelties,” with an exception for lawful sale for food purposes. Amendments to this section remove “as pets or novelties” so that the purpose of sale is not relevant, thereby prohibiting all such sales outside of authorized dealers for food purposes. Amendments also expand limitations on the sale of animals beyond just “novelty small fowl and rabbits,” to regulate animal sales generally. Revisions prohibit the sale of dogs and cats in public places3, prohibit the use of animals as prizes or inducements4, prohibit the sale of dogs and cats to minors without guardian approval, and clarify that any person engaged in breeding or sale of any animal for commercial purposes must comply with state and local regulations regarding business activity and breeding5.
2 CCR Title 14 § 251.1.
3 Consistent with Cal. Penal Code § 597.4.
4 Consistent with Cal. H&S Code § 122359.
5 E.g., Cal. H&S Code § 122045 et seq.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance
Date: June 23, 2025 Page 9
Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
10. Number of dogs
OMC Section 6.04.400 currently imposes a prohibition on keeping more than three dogs on any one premises, regardless of the size of the dogs or the premises where they are kept. This prohibition was enacted in 2005 via Ordinance No. 12705. OAS finds that the current limitations are arbitrary and based on a desire to control behavior that is already prohibited by law. The current limit is also not consistently enforced. OAS finds that the three-dog limit is helpful guidance, but that an exception is required in the interest of justice to allow exception for owners who can demonstrate that keeping more than three dogs is justified based on space and where doing so does not create a nuisance.
11. Exemption sections
The exemptions contained in sections 6.04.410 are being removed and incorporated into sections 6.04.320, 6.04.390, and 6.04.400 which are the sections the exemptions refer to and, similarly, section 6.04.510 has been removed and incorporated into section 6.04.500.
12. Reports of OAS
OMC 6.04.280 requires OAS to submit a monthly report to the “City Manager” on the fifth day of each month regarding the number of animals impounded, redeemed, adopted, euthanized, and buried, and how much revenue was received for said animals. This section is being revised to instead require such reporting on an annual basis or upon the request of City Council. The requirement to report number of burials is removed as outdated. The number of “transferred” animals is added since OAS commonly transfers adoptable animals to third party rescue organizations.
Adoption of the proposed ordinance advances the following Citywide Priorities: 1) holistic community safety, by ensuring the municipal code is enforceable and holds pet owners accountable to manage their pets in a safe manner, 2) housing, economic, and cultural security, by supporting the OAS mission of improving the lives of people and animals and serving as the safety net for the neediest animals living in the City; and 4) responsive, trustworthy government by modernizing the code to reflect current best practices in alignment with state law and in providing greater clarity in how the law is written.
FISCAL IMPACT
The measurable fiscal impact of adopting these ordinance revisions is unknown. Changing owner surrender rules from being mandatory to discretionary will reduce the overall shelter population and the cost of care. The reduction in the hold period from 7 days to 72 hours will allow animals to be processed into foster care or to rescue organizations more quickly, which will also reduce the total costs of animal care. For example, the current cost to house an animal for one night is $27. Reducing the hold period by 4 days could theoretically save $108 in care costs per animal received.
The allowance for the OAS Director to waive fees without City Council approval could create a minor decline in overall annual revenue, but that decline would likely be offset many times over in savings by having more animals properly licensed, altered, and redeemed by their owner. For example, in current practice, when working with the unsheltered population that cannot pay the Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance
Date: June 23, 2025 Page 10
Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
fees to redeem their animal, it ends up costing more money to keep the animal (at $27 per day) than it would to waive the fees and redeem the animal.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
These revisions were developed in partnership with the staff and volunteers of OAS and its sister organization, FOAS. OAS also consulted with the East Bay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (EBSPCA), SF Shelter PALS, and animal care and control officials in neighboring jurisdictions. Prior to submission, OAS has provided the draft revisions to its stakeholders and is conducting input meetings to receive feedback from the public.
COORDINATION
OAS coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office in developing these ordinance revisions. Also, OAS leadership engaged with the OAS Staff, Volunteers, the FOAS leadership and allowed for review by a Shelter PALS attorney and other local leaders with expertise in animal control laws.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are no economic opportunities associated with this report and action.
Environmental: The impact of unregulated animals in the public setting have a significant impact on the physical environment. Feral cat colonies near or in regional parks are a threat to endangered species and to native species that compete for food. Stray and unvaccinated dogs can spread disease that can impact both domestic and wild animals.
Race & Equity: The cost of caring for and properly licensing animals has a disproportionate effect on frontline communities that often struggle to meet their basic needs. OAS partners closely with FOAS and other organizations to support frontline communities and provide opportunities to keep them united with their pets. Also, the emotional trauma suffered when a family must surrender their pet due to the cost of care can be avoided through better management, regulations, and outreach. As OAS refines its policies to be more operationally efficient, it will be able to focus more of its resources to support these families.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Revisions to the Animal Control Ordinance
Date: June 23, 2025 Page 11
Life Enrichment Committee
July 8, 2025
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt An Ordinance Amending Oakland Municipal Code 6.04 (Animal Control) To: (1) Reduce The Holding Period For Impounded Animals To 72 Hours; (2) Remove Requirement For Oakland Animal Services To Accept All Surrendered Animals; (3) Allow Finders Of Stray Animals To Temporarily Keep And Care For Found Animals In Lieu Of Delivering To Oakland Animal Services; (4) Require Outdoor Cats And Impounded And At-Large Dogs To Be Spayed Or Neutered; (5) Authorize Oakland Animal Services To Waive Fees Based On Financial Need; And (6) Make Other Minor Amendments Consistent With State Law
For questions regarding this report, please contact Joe DeVries, Deputy City Administrator and Acting Oakland Animal Services Director, at (510) 238-3083.
Respectfully submitted,
Joe DeVries
Deputy City Administrator and Acting Oakland
Animal Services Director