Is it illegal not to pick up dog poop? California and Temecula rules

What Temecula's code says

The rule is Temecula Municipal Code section 6.04.220(B). It says it is unlawful for the owner or person having custody of a dog, "either willfully or through failure to exercise due care or control," to allow the dog to defecate and then allow the feces to remain on any public or private property not owned or possessed by the owner or custodian.

That covers a park, a sidewalk, a trail and a neighbor's lawn. It does not depend on someone complaining, and it does not say how long the feces has to sit there. The wording is "thereafter to remain," so walking away from it is the violation.

Section 6.04.220(A) is a second rule, and it is about your own yard. Any area occupied by an animal has to be kept sanitary, and feces has to be disposed of "on no less than a biweekly basis." The code says extreme conditions can be cited as cruelty under section 6.04.210.

Fines and what happens if you're cited

Section 6.04.280 says any violation of the animal chapter is an infraction, and the city can also pursue it as an administrative civil action under Chapter 1.21. Infractions are punished under Chapter 1.20 of the same code.

The fine scale in Chapter 1.20 is below. Each step counts violations within a one-year window. Those are the maximums a court can impose, and we didn't find a posted fine schedule for administrative citations, so ask the city if you have a citation in hand.

When poop piling up in your own yard becomes a nuisance

A pile on your own property is a different question from a pile on someone else's. Chapter 8.12 of the code, on nuisances, lists the accumulation of "animal or human feces" in a way that causes or is likely to cause flies or other insects as a public nuisance. Section 8.12.020(J) says that material has to be removed from the property not less than weekly, and more often if needed to keep flies away.

The penalty is steeper here. Section 8.12.170 makes maintaining a public nuisance a misdemeanor, and each day it continues can count as a separate offense.

So there are two clocks in the code. The biweekly line in 6.04.220(A) is the floor for animal sanitation, and the weekly line in 8.12.020(J) applies when the waste is drawing flies. If flies are showing up, the weekly line is the one to plan around. If you want the practical side, see how often to pick up dog poop.

Riverside County and other cities

Temecula's rule applies inside city limits. In unincorporated areas the county's animal control ordinance, Riverside County Ordinance No. 630, applies. We read the copy on the county Clerk of the Board site, amended through 630.19, and searched it for feces, excrement and waste. It has no pick-up requirement. It covers licensing, dogs running at large, barking and nuisance abatement, with the same $100, $200 and $500 fine scale for infractions.

That is the version we could open. The county's current code may have been amended since, so check the county Animal Services office before relying on it.

Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and Canyon Lake each have their own code. We only checked Temecula and the county, so look up your own city's animal chapter if you live elsewhere.

Is there a California state law?

We searched for a state statute that requires owners to pick up after a dog and did not find one. Pick-up rules in California are set city by city and county by county.

State law does define a nuisance. Civil Code section 3479 includes anything injurious to health, anything offensive to the senses, and anything that interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property. A neighbor's dog waste is the kind of thing people argue falls under that, but whether it does in a particular case is for a court or an attorney to say.

Can you put dog poop in the garbage?

We didn't find anything in Temecula's code that bars bagged dog waste from the trash. The city's trash and recycling page says black carts are for trash and green carts are for green waste. It does not mention pet waste, so confirm with CR&R if you want it in writing. Our guide on how to dispose of dog poop goes through what we found.

If you would rather not deal with it at all, weekly dog waste removal starts at $89 a month, and pricing has the other plans.

This is general information, not legal advice. For a specific citation or dispute, talk to the city, Animal Friends of the Valleys or an attorney.

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