| Alaska | Yes |
- Definitions Fish and Game
| | Source |
- Feral cats are defined as "Game", hence - allowed to be hunted.
|
| Arkansas | Yes |
- Definitions - Public Health & Welfare, Animals
| | Source |
- Feral cats fall under the legal definition of 'Owner,' encompassing individuals who knowingly allow a cat to remain on or around their premises. Consequently, stray cats not vaccinated against rabies may be subject to destruction.
|
| California | Yes |
- Regulation of cats - Feral cats
|
- CA Food & Ag Code
§ 31752.5
| Source |
- Defines feral cats as those exhibiting extreme fear and resistance to human contact, allowing for euthanasia or surrender to non-profits after a shortened holding period.
|
| Colorado | Yes |
- Definitions – Rabies control
| | Source |
- Owners are responsible for unvaccinated cats, and it's unlawful for such cats to roam freely.
|
| Connecticut | Yes |
- Municipal control of feral cats
|
- Conn. Gen. Stat. §
22-339d
| Source |
- Municipalities can enact ordinances for registration of feral cat keepers and property protection.
- Feral cats kept in residential or commercial areas must be registered with the town's animal control officer.
- Feral cat keepers must sterilize and vaccinate the cat against rabies.
|
| Delaware | Yes |
- Animal Care & Control Agency
| | Source |
- This legislation defines a 'feral cat' as one born in the wild or descended from owned or feral cats, which cannot be socialized, or as a formerly owned cat that has been abandoned and is no longer socialized. Additionally, it defines a 'free-roaming cat caretaker' as someone providing shelter, medical care, or food to free-roaming cats without discernible owner identification, aiming to reduce colony numbers through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs. Notably, the legislation prohibits the release of such cats on public lands.
- Delaware’s animal cruelty laws protect all cats from abuse, whether they’re owned or unowned or live indoors or outdoors.
|
| Florida | Yes |
- Lost or stray dogs and cats
| | Source |
- Promotes TNR practices as a means of controlling feral cat population.
|
| Hawaii | Yes |
- Relating to animal caretakers
| | Source |
- Caretakers of feral cats must register with the contracted rescue group and establish a "trap-sterilize-return" process.
- Rescue group responsibilities: Register caretakers of feral cats and maintain records, submit an annual report to the Department of Health.
|
| Illinois | Yes | |
- § 510 ILCS 5/35
- § 510 ILCS 92/25
| Source |
- This legislation grants immunity from criminal and civil liability to municipalities, veterinarians, and caretakers involved in feral cat colonies and Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs. Additionally, residents managing such colonies may access low-cost spay-neuter programs if their TNR efforts are officially recognized by the local government.
- Feral cat colonies shall be permitted and feral cat caretakers shall be entitled to maintain and care for feral cats by providing food, water, shelter, medical care, and other forms of sustenance, provided that the feral cat colonies are registered with and approved by a sponsor who is registered and approved by the Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control.
|
| Indiana | Yes |
- Abandonment or neglect of vertebrate animals
- Public Health – Mobile Homes
| | Source |
- This statute exempts feral animals from being under a person's custody for prosecuting animal offenses. Additionally, it specifies that regulations prohibiting pets from running at large within mobile home communities do not apply to feral cats released through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs.
- Community cat caretakers may provide food, water, shelter, and medical care for community cats, and are bound to follow the following Community Cat Program guidelines:
- Trap cats for spay/neuter, ear tipping, and vaccination for rabies by a licensed veterinarian
- Return cats to where they were captured
- Provide adequate food and water every day
- Provide adequate shelter for the number of cats in the colony
- Seek assistance for any injured or ill cats
- Contact Indianapolis Animal Care Services to help find another caretaker if they can no longer properly care for your community cats
- Help community cats maintain a good neighbor status
- Report acts of neglect, cruelty, abandonment, or abuse directed against any cat(s) to the Mayor’s Action Center.
|
| Kentucky | Yes |
- Animal control and protection
| | Source |
- In accordance with the law, an 'owner' of a cat is defined as any person who owns, keeps, or harbors a cat. This broad definition may encompass individuals caring for feral cats. As a result, rabies vaccination requirements, which typically apply to owned cats, may extend to feral cats if they are harbored or kept by individuals, thereby necessitating compliance with vaccination regulations.
|
| Maine | Yes | | | Source |
- For cats without ID, a shelter shall hold for not less than 48 hrs; for feral cats, not less than 24 hrs, after which time the cat may be offered for sale or adoption or otherwise be humanely disposed of.
|
| Maryland | Yes |
- Hunting Restrictions pertaining to dogs and cats
| | Source |
- Anti‑cruelty laws protect every cat regardless of the owner. - Feeding, sheltering and/or otherwise caring for free-roaming cats shall not be deemed a public nuisance condition unless it disturbs the peace, comfort, or health of any person residing in the area.
- Natural Resources officers and other law enforcement officers shall kill any cat found hunting a game bird or mammal or a protected bird or mammal (any other person may destroy).
|
| Nebraska | Yes |
- Feral Cat Colony Caretaker Permit Information
|
- City of Omaha Ordinance 6-161
- City of Bellevue Ordinance 6-57
| Source |
- Caretaker permit rules for cats colonies:
- - Colonies cannot have more than 20 adult feral cats at an address that is zoned residential. If such a colony is composed of more than 10 adult feral cats, the permit holder must reduce the number of such cats to 10 prior to the renewal of the permit.
- - There can be no more than 30 adult feral cats at an address zoned commercial. If such colony is composed of more than 15 adult cats, the permit holder must reduce the number of cats to 15 prior to the renewal of the permit.
- - Feral Cat Colony Caretakers must have the ability and desire to actively work toward decreasing the number of feral cats in a colony through humane trap/neuter/return (TNR).
- - Colony caretakers must provide daily care for the animals by providing fresh food and water.
- - Failure to reduce numbers of cats within the colony via trap/neuter/return (TNR) can result in the revocation of one's permit.
|
| New Jersey | Yes |
- Unlawful treatment of certain animals
| | Source |
- Subsection 4:22-17.2 of the law prohibits subjecting certain animals to adverse environmental conditions for more than 30 minutes without proper shelter. However, feral cats are exempt from these regulations. Owners and custodians are held responsible for violations on their property.
|
| New York | Yes |
- Definitions-Health, Animal Shelters Definitions-Public Health, Rabies
| | Source |
- “Feral cat” defined as animal with no owner, is unsocialized to humans, and has a temperament of extreme fear of and resistance to human contact.
- “Owner” does not apply to premises owners or occupants of property inhabited by feral cats.
|
| North Carolina | Yes |
- Definitions - Rabies
- Destroying stray or feral animals in rabies quarantine districts
| | Source |
- “Feral” is defined as an animal that is not socialized.
- Any peace officer or animal control officer has the right to destroy stray or feral animals running uncontrolled in quarantine areas after reasonable efforts have been to apprehend the animal.
- A feral cat caregiver is any individual registered to feed/water feral cats and/or feral cat colonies within the jurisdictional limits of the city, after having completed proper registration as defined by the following administrative and operational requirements: - No location established to feed/water a feral cat or feral cat colony shall be located within 100 feet of any residentially-zoned district.
- A standard trap-neuter-release (TNR) form shall be provided by local SPCA shelter to all feral cat caregivers so as to register the cats and shall be filed at the shelter. - Adoptable cats/kittens shall not be returned to the colony.
- Cats/kittens with health issues (such as rabies or feline distemper) shall not be returned to the colony. - Photographs of all feral cats/kittens shall be taken. The information shall be input into the existing SPCA records.
|
| Ohio | Yes | | | Source |
- In Ohio, feral cats, defined as wild, stray, or unowned cats, are prohibited from being fed, harbored, or housed. Violation of this law is considered a minor misdemeanor, escalating to a misdemeanor of the fourth degree for repeat offenders within one year.
|
| Oklahoma | Yes | |
- 5-6-27: DISPOSITION OF FERAL OR VICIOUS CATS
| Source |
- In Oklahoma, any feral or vicious cat deemed too hazardous to apprehend may be destroyed under the direction of the chief of police or animal control officer. Additionally, cat owners in city limits must pay an annual license fee, varying based on the cat's alteration status, and obtain a new license upon acquisition, valid for one year from the date of rabies vaccination.
|
| Pennsylvania | Yes |
- Regulation of pets and feral animals
| | Source |
- Allows cities to adopt an ordinance to prohibit and regulate the “running at large” of …cats, and feral animals.
|
| Rhode Island | Yes |
- Holding At-Large or Impounded Cats
| | Source |
- Provides holding period requirements and disposition options (including euthanasia) for feral cats with and without ID; allows for euthanasia of feral cats without ID prior to holding period if determined to be dangerous (at discretion of animal control, licensed vet, or shelter manager)
- Any person providing care or sustenance to feral cats for an uninterrupted period of sixty (60) days or longer shall be deemed the owner of said cats.
|
| South Carolina | Yes |
- Rabies Control
- Dogs and Other Domestic Pets
| | Source |
- In an order relating to rabies control within a community, efforts to reduce the stray and feral animal population may be undertaken.
- It is unlawful to allow dogs or cats to run at large.
- Caretakers of feral cats are exempt from any provision of law regarding the feeding of stray animals, requiring permits for the feeding of animals, requiring the confinement of cats, or limiting the number of animals a person can own, harbor, or have in their custody.
- A feral cat caregiver has the same right of redemption for feral cats as an owner of a pet cat, without conferring ownership of the cat on the caregiver.
|
| South Dakota | Yes | | | Source |
- No person owning or responsible for the care of an animal may neglect, abandon, or mistreat the animal, except that any person may abandon a feral cat or dog for which the person assumed responsibility with the sole purpose of spaying or neutering the cat or dog.
|
| Tennessee | Yes |
- Power to regulate stray animals
| | Source |
- Gives counties the power to regulate, capture, impound, and dispose of stray dogs and cats.
|
| Texas | Yes |
- Restraint, Impoundment, and Disposition of Dogs and Cats
| | Source |
- Municipalities and counties may adopt ordinances to require that stray dogs or cats be declared a public nuisance, impounded, and humanely disposed of.
|
| Utah | Yes | | | Source |
- This law exempts community cats from shelter holds, licensing, and feeding bans, while also excluding sponsors and caretakers from custody definitions. It mandates maintaining sterilization and vaccination records for three years and allows localities to create permit systems for community cats with notice to adjacent property owners.
|
| Vermont | Yes |
- Feral animals; responsibility
| | Source |
- No requirement for a person to be responsible for a feral animal that takes up a residence in a building (other than the person’s home) even if the person occasionally feeds the animal.
|
| Virginia | Yes |
- Definitions – Comprehensive Animal Care
- Confinement & Disposition of Animals
| | Source |
- Feral cat included in the definition of companion animal.
- Feral cats can be euthanized after a hold period of not less than three days.
|
| West Virginia | Yes |
- West Virginia Spay Neuter Assistance Program
| | Source |
- Grant program that provides grants to nonprofit spay neuter organizations and programs in the state. The purpose of this program is to have more dogs and cats sterilized, thereby reducing shelter populations and costs, euthanasia rates and threats to public health and safety from rabies and other problems posed by the growing population of stray, feral and abandoned dogs and cats.
|
| Wyoming | Yes |
- Definitions of wildlife
- Taking predatory animals
- Animals running at large
|
- § 23-1-101
- § 23-3-103
- §11-31-301
| Source |
- Stray cats fall under definition of a “predatory animal”.
- Predatory animals may be taken without a license in any manner at any time (subject to a few exceptions).
- Animals running at large may be declared a public nuisance.
|
| Alabama | No | | | | |
| Georgia | No | | | | |
| Idaho | No | | | |
- Cats are allowed to roam freely even on private property.
- Responsibility falls on the property owner unless the county or city they reside in has their own specific ordinances for feral cat care.
|
| Iowa | No | | | | |
| Kansas | No | | | | |
| Louisiana | No | | | | |
| Massachusetts | No | | | | |
| Minnesota | No | | | | |
| Mississippi | No | | | | |
| Missouri | No | | | | |
| Montana | No | | | | |
| New Hampshire | No | | | | |
| New Mexico | No | | | | |
| North Dakota | No | | | | |
| Oregon | No | | | | |
| Washington | No | | | | |
| Wisconsin | No | | | | |
| Arizona | Covered by Animal Cruelty Law | | | Source |
- Arizona's animal cruelty laws prohibit killing feral cats. However, you can trap feral cats and take them to an animal shelter to be adopted or euthanized.
|
| Michigan | Covered by Animal Cruelty Law |
- 750.50b Animal and companion animal defined; prohibited acts; violation; penalty; consecutive terms; exceptions.
| | Source |
- House Bill 4596 of 2019, a bill to promote community cat programs, would have established and promoted community cat programs. However, the bill failed to pass into law. Feral cats do still enjoy broad protections under existing animal cruelty laws established in Section 750.50b of Michigan's legal code.
|
| Nevada | Covered by Animal Cruelty Law | | | Source |
- Cats without identification are considered feral and are rarely protected under state law.
- Animal cruelty statute only mentions that prohibition against abandonment does not apply to feral cats
|