Laguna Woods enacts wildlife feeding ban with fines up to $500

Laguna Woods has banned residents from leaving food outdoors or directly feeding wildlife, imposing fines of up to $500 per offense in response to a surge in coyote attacks on residents' pets, Voice of OC reported.

The regulations, which took effect in April 2026 after a unanimous council vote, reflect a broader push across Orange County to curb wildlife conflicts by eliminating food sources that draw coyotes into residential neighborhoods.

The Laguna Woods City Council voted unanimously to establish rules banning residents from leaving pet food or water bowls unattended outdoors and from allowing fruit or vegetables to rot on trees or on the ground, Voice of OC reported. Directly feeding wildlife is also prohibited under the new ordinance.

Violations carry progressive fines: $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second and $500 or more for each additional offense within one year.

The city will install surveillance cameras to monitor compliance, but footage must be deleted after one week — a concession to residents who objected to the privacy implications. The city must also obtain written permission from private property owners before mounting cameras on their land.

Laguna Woods Councilmember Shari Horne said the connection between food access and coyote aggression is unmistakable. "People need to realize that there is a direct correlation between their putting out food and their neighbors' pet dying," Horne said, according to Voice of OC.

Some residents resisted the surveillance component during the council's initial debate. "I urge the city council to remove that highly non-nuanced aspect of this thing," one resident said, Voice of OC reported.

Resident Jay Laessi argued in an email to the council that the rules should go further. "If the wildlife feeding regulations are about feeding wildlife, then we must recognize that anyone who grows a fruit tree is feeding wildlife. Therefore, those trees should be banned," Laessi wrote, according to Voice of OC.

The issue first surfaced at a Feb. 18 council meeting, where 19 residents voiced concerns about coyote activity in the area. Similar wildlife feeding restrictions are already in place in other Orange County cities, including Fountain Valley and Placentia, Voice of OC reported.