Check for animals as soon as you have the right to enter a home after a move-out. Walk each room before cleaners start or anyone moves appliances. If you find an animal left behind, call the local animal-control agency at once. Call the former tenant too, but keep urgent help moving while you try to reach them.
A cat hiding behind the fridge needs help; boxes in a closet can wait. California treats abandoned animals separately from household belongings. There is no six-month animal-storage rule. Use this checklist for a safe search, handoff and damage record.
Updated October 8, 2026.
This article explains California rules for rented homes. Local animal-control rules and service areas vary. It is general information, not legal advice or veterinary advice. Ask a landlord-tenant lawyer about disputes over access or charges. Follow animal-control officers’ and licensed vets’ care instructions.
Confirm lawful access before starting the search
A lease end date does not prove the tenant has given the home back. Record their surrender, key return and any occupants remaining. If the tenant disappears, do not assume abandonment. Section 1951.3 has rent, notice and response conditions; the court’s code compilation sets them out. Get legal advice before changing locks.
Civil Code section 1954 allows entry for set reasons, including emergencies and surrender or abandonment. Other entries have purpose and notice limits. DRE’s guide to living in a rental unit explains them. Report a pet in distress to the proper authorities. That concern does not let you take over an occupied home.
If possession is being recovered through eviction, follow the court and sheriff’s process. Winning the case is a step in that process, not permission to perform your own lockout. The California Courts post-trial instructions explain the writ and sheriff’s role. Our California landlord and court forms resource links to official documents.
Walk the rental room by room
Start quietly, with a flashlight and your notes. Keep outside doors controlled so a pet cannot bolt into traffic. Listen before moving anything. Even if the tenant reported no pets, include an animal check in your rental property inspection.
Bedrooms and living spaces
- Look under beds and furniture left behind, behind curtains, and in the back corners of closets.
- Check open cabinets and storage spaces you can see into. Keep your hands out of blind spots.
- Look for cages, carriers, aquariums and terrariums. A quiet animal in an enclosure can be easy to miss.
Kitchen and laundry
- Shine the flashlight into gaps behind the fridge and beneath cabinets or the range.
- Look inside accessible washer and dryer drums before anyone starts them.
- Check under-sink cabinets and nearby storage. Leave appliances in place if moving them could hurt a pet or disturb pipes, gas lines or wiring.
Bathrooms and utility spaces
- Check behind the toilet, under the vanity, and in the tub or shower.
- Look into utility closets you can safely reach. Leave the equipment alone.
- Record sounds or movement behind a panel. Ask responders to help rather than dismantling a wall or fixture.
Garage, attic access and outdoors
- Scan garage shelving, visible rafters and spaces around stored boxes. Move nothing until you have checked the surrounding area.
- Look at open attic hatches, loose vents and crawl-space entrances from a safe position. Tell responders about possible hiding places; avoid climbing into unsafe spaces.
- Check sheds you can safely reach, the fence line, and beneath porches or decks. Avoid crawling after a pet.
- Pause if you encounter wildlife or an animal you cannot identify. Ask the local agency which qualified responder should handle it.
Food bowls, litter boxes, bedding, droppings, scratches and chewed screens can point you toward a hidden pet. They do not prove that a pet is still there, belongs to the former tenant, or was left on purpose. Record what you see without guessing who owns it or why it is there.
Call animal control immediately when an animal is left behind
Civil Code sections 1815(d) and 1816 appear in AB 2949’s enacted text. They cover animals abandoned or left in or around premises vacated at lease termination or foreclosure, including immediately before either event. Section 1815(d) ties this to Penal Code section 597.1. Section 1816(b) requires immediate animal-control notification so officials can retrieve the animal.
Call the agency that serves the home’s exact address. Explain where you found the animal, whether it is loose or confined, and any signs of distress. Mention signs of neglect or injury, or a risk of bites. Ask how to keep it safe while you wait. Ask where to get urgent help if an officer cannot come promptly.
For example, Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control directs callers to its communication center for sick or injured animals. Its service-request guidance says an online request can delay help and is not the route for an animal emergency. This is guidance for its service areas, not a statewide dispatch system. Check your own city or county’s responsible provider.
A report does not mean officers can take the animal at once. Read Penal Code section 597.1 in the Veterinary Medical Board’s 2026 lawbook. It sets rules for care and how officers respond. LA County explains why officers cannot just take animals. Leave those decisions to officers. State and local care laws still apply. Calling does not excuse neglect or promise a pickup time.
Keep the animal safe without attempting treatment
Stop cleaning, pest treatment and equipment use near the animal. Keep workers and other pets away. If it is safe, keep the space quiet and prevent escape without chasing, cornering or handling the animal. Ask animal control or a licensed vet about water, food, heat or cold, and urgent care needs.
If the animal looks hurt, is struggling to breathe or cannot stand, describe that clearly when you call. Seek urgent instructions from animal control and a licensed emergency vet. Avoid medicines, forced feeding, homemade traps or restraint. A scared pet can bite; one behind equipment may need a trained officer’s help.
Call the former tenant while you arrange help from the agency. Ask whether a pet is missing, whether anyone was supposed to collect it, and whether there are other pets at the home. Share the receiving agency’s details once you have them. Let officers guide the next steps if you do not know who owns the pet. LA County’s found-pet guidance recommends a microchip scan through an animal care center or vet when safe.
Handle belongings through their separate legal process
Do not put a living animal into storage with the tenant’s furniture. Civil Code section 1981(d), also amended by AB 2949, excludes animals covered by section 1815(d) from that chapter’s rules for disposing of household goods.
The Civil Code procedure for belongings has its own notice rules. Section 1983 requires written notice to the former tenant and others you reasonably believe own the property. The reclaim date must be at least 15 days after personal delivery, or at least 18 days after mailing the notice. The Legislature’s AB 2521 enacted text sets out that section and related disposal rules.
After required notices and reclaim periods, section 1988 allows retention or disposal when you reasonably believe the unclaimed goods’ total resale value is less than $700. Otherwise, the procedure requires a public competitive sale and its own sale notice. The Senate’s 2025 existing-law summary confirms these rules. These deadlines and values concern belongings, not live animals. Have counsel check eviction-specific procedures. There is no blanket six-month, court-ordered storage rule under this process.
Separate pet damage from ordinary wear
Once officers have dealt with the animal’s safety, record the home’s condition. Take photos of each damaged area before cleaning or repairs and compare it with the move-in record. Describe where you found torn carpet, chewed trim or stains. A broad charge such as “pet damage” does not explain the work.
You can deduct only reasonable, necessary costs for tenant-caused damage beyond ordinary wear and tear. Cleaning can restore the home to the same clean state it was in at move-in. The Department of Real Estate’s 2026 tenant guide explains these limits and the records you must supply.
Faded paint and worn carpet differ from new gouges or urine damage. Pet hair may need cleaning if the home is less clean than at move-in. Its presence does not justify an automatic professional-cleaning charge. Compare the old condition, carpet age and work needed. Do not charge for replacement when a small repair or cleaning solves the problem.
Apply the current California deposit rules
- For new tenancies, the general deposit cap is one month’s rent, including any pet deposit. A qualifying small landlord may collect up to two months. The exception has ownership-structure requirements and limits ownership to two residential rental properties with four rental units in total. Check trust ownership and other arrangements before relying on it. This exception does not apply to a service-member tenant.
- Move-in photos are required for tenancies beginning on or after July 1, 2025. Since April 1, 2025, landlords must take photos after possession returns, before chargeable repairs or cleaning, and again after the work.
- Return the remaining deposit and provide the itemized accounting within 21 calendar days after the tenant vacates. Supply required photographs and supporting cost records. Receipt rules have limited exceptions; keep the invoices and work details even when an exception applies.
- If work or invoices cannot reasonably be completed or obtained within that period, follow the good-faith estimate procedure. Send the final accounting and documents within 14 calendar days after completing the repair or receiving the records.
The refund method changed on January 1, 2026. For a single-adult tenancy, electronic rent or deposit payments generally trigger an electronic refund. Landlord and tenant may agree in writing to another method. Give written notice of the refund right within a reasonable time after either side gives notice to end the tenancy. Emailing the itemized statement still needs mutual agreement. Multiple-adult tenancies have separate return rules; check those before choosing a payee or payment method. DRE’s 2026 legislative summary explains the change.
Keep rescue records separate from repair bills. An animal-control cost or lien is not automatically a lawful deposit deduction. Get legal advice before charging rescue, boarding or vet bills against the deposit.
Keep a clear handoff record
Record your entry time and access basis, areas checked, animals found, calls and instructions received. Ask for the agency’s case number and where the pet was taken. Save tenant messages and note spaces you could not safely inspect.
If you use property management services, ask who will check the home, call for help and keep the records. Find the office for your home in our local office directory. Before work starts, confirm who will check any space you could not safely reach.
Frequently asked questions
Must I wait for the former tenant before calling animal control?
No. For live animals left in the circumstances covered by Civil Code section 1815(d), section 1816(b) says to notify animal control immediately. Call the former tenant too, but do not delay urgent help.
Do I have to store an abandoned animal for six months?
No. California’s rules for household belongings exclude animals covered by Civil Code section 1815(d). Notify animal control immediately and follow professional care instructions. Do not apply furniture-storage deadlines to a living animal.
Can I deduct every animal-related expense from the deposit?
No. A charge must fit California’s allowed uses and rules for records. Tenant-caused damage beyond ordinary wear and necessary cleaning may qualify. Rescue, boarding and vet bills do not qualify just because you paid them. Get legal advice before charging them.
Sources
Sources checked October 8, 2026. California law sources apply statewide to the circumstances described; LA County guidance applies within its service areas.
- California DRE: Living in the rental unit — permitted entry and notice exceptions. Checked 2026-10-08.
- Madera Superior Court: Selected termination-of-tenancy code sections, revised October 1, 2025 — full sections 1951.3 and 1954, pages 67–70; abandonment conditions and entry. Checked 2026-10-08.
- California Courts: After the eviction trial decision — writ and sheriff’s eviction process. Checked 2026-10-08.
- California Legislature: AB 2949, chaptered — Civil Code sections 1815, 1816 and 1981; animal notification, care and separate procedure. Checked 2026-10-08.
- LA County Animal Care and Control: Service request — urgent telephone reporting instead of an online form. Checked 2026-10-08.
- California Veterinary Medical Board: Veterinary Medicine Practice Act, 2026 edition — full Penal Code section 597.1, printed pages 420–425; care and seizure procedures. Checked 2026-10-08.
- LA County Animal Care and Control: Why animal control officers cannot just take animals — authority and due-process limits, read alongside section 597.1. Checked 2026-10-08.
- LA County Animal Care and Control: If you found a pet — safe identification and microchip scanning. Checked 2026-10-08.
- California Legislature: AB 2521, chaptered — sections 1983 and 1988; reclaim-notice periods and the less-than-$700 belongings exception. Checked 2026-10-08.
- California Senate Judiciary: SB 709 analysis, May 6, 2025 — existing-law discussion on pages 3–4 confirms residential belongings deadlines and value threshold; proposed self-storage changes are not used. Checked 2026-10-08.
- California DRE: 2026 Landlord/Tenant Guide — deposit caps, allowable deductions, photographs and accounting, pages 35–37 and 76–85. Checked 2026-10-08.
- California DRE: 2025 chaptered bill summaries, published May 6, 2026 — AB 414 electronic deposit returns and notice. Checked 2026-10-08.
