Flint, MI Animal Ordinances: Animal Hoarding (2026)

Michigan criminalizes animal neglect and cruelty in MCL 750.50, which requires every owner to provide adequate care including food, water, shelter, sanitary conditions, exercise, and necessary veterinary care, with a tiered penalty structure that escalates with the number of animals involved and prior convictions. MCL 750.50b criminalizes intentional killing, torturing, mutilating, maiming, disfiguring, or poisoning, and treats acts involving 25 or more animals or three or more prior convictions as a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, a fine up to $10,000, and up to 500 hours of community service. Both statutes authorize courts to order the defendant not to own or possess an animal for any period, including permanently. The City of Flint does not have a numeric pet cap that would otherwise define hoarding by count, so prosecutions turn on whether the owner failed to provide adequate care for the specific animals on the property. Genesee County Animal Control conducts welfare-check investigations and may seek a seizure order under MCL 750.50(7) to remove animals at the owner's expense, with bond required to pay for boarding and veterinary care through the pendency of the case. Mental-health treatment referrals are common given the recognized psychiatric component of hoarding behavior, but do not preclude criminal prosecution.