Boulder County has no separate 'hoarding' ordinance, but Ordinance 2022-8 makes it unlawful to fail to provide any livestock or domestic animal with minimum care, or to neglect, mistreat, or abandon an animal. Neglected animals may be impounded, and cruelty is prosecutable under Colorado state law.
Ordinance 2022-8, Section 8, bars cruelty: knowingly or with criminal negligence to torture, torment, deprive of necessary sustenance, or otherwise mistreat or neglect any animal. Section 10(c) makes it unlawful to fail to provide any livestock or domestic animal with 'minimum care' (adequate food, water, shelter, and veterinary care). If an officer finds an animal needs veterinary care, the owner has 24 hours to provide it or the animal is impounded and released only on payment of costs. These provisions expressly preserve Colorado's criminal cruelty statutes, C.R.S. 18-9-202 (cruelty to animals) and C.R.S. 35-42-109, which is how large-scale hoarding cases are charged. Any subject animal may be impounded for its protection.
Failing to provide minimum care, or neglecting, mistreating, or abandoning an animal, is a petty offense under Ordinance 2022-8 and grounds for impoundment. Serious or repeated cases are charged under C.R.S. 18-9-202 cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor that can rise
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