Tuscaloosa, AL Animal Ordinances: Animal Hoarding (2026)

Tuscaloosa does not have a dedicated animal-hoarding section, and Alabama likewise has no separate hoarding statute defined by a specific number of animals. Two layers of law nonetheless address the problem. Locally, Tuscaloosa's Chapter 4 (Animals and Fowl) pet-limit rules cap households at three dogs and three cats (kittens under three months excepted), which directly limit the kind of accumulation that leads to hoarding; exceeding the limits without a kennel license is itself a code violation, and resulting noise, odor, or sanitation problems can be abated as nuisances. At the state level, animal hoarding that crosses into neglect is prosecuted under Alabama's cruelty law, Ala. Code Section 13A-11-14, which makes it a crime to subject an animal in one's custody to cruel neglect or cruel mistreatment; the offense is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by fines up to $3,000 and up to a year in jail on a first conviction. Where neglect involves torture or extreme suffering, Section 13A-11-14.1 elevates the conduct to aggravated cruelty, a Class C felony. Authorities responding to suspected hoarding in Tuscaloosa can therefore combine the city's pet limits and nuisance code with state cruelty charges, and may seize animals kept in cruel or neglectful conditions.