Amarillo, TX Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Amarillo splits its feline rules into two tracks. A domesticated, owned cat is covered by Sec. 8-2-80: the owner must provide appropriate and adequate food, water and shelter, exercise reasonable care to keep the cat from becoming a nuisance, and never abandon it. Unowned, free-roaming cats fall under Article V's Community Cat program instead of the dog-style at-large impoundment scheme. Sec. 8-2-81(a) allows Community Cat Colonies to operate only through a registered Community Cat Colony Caretaker, who must sign up with a Department-approved community organization; the ordinance is explicit that registering a colony does not grant any right to trespass on private property and does not create an ownership interest in an unowned cat.

Caretakers under Sec. 8-2-81(c) must register the colony, keep the population's rabies vaccination current, work toward getting every cat sterilized by a licensed veterinarian, ear-tip vaccinated and neutered colony cats for identification, and check on the colony at least twice a week. If a colony cat becomes a nuisance, Sec. 8-2-82 lets the Animal Management & Welfare Department impound it and return it to the caretaker or sponsoring society the first time; a cat removed as a nuisance four times may not be returned to that location.

Sec. 8-2-83 backs this with enforcement teeth: the Department can revoke a caretaker's or sponsoring society's registration, and if a society fails to correct a nuisance within 30 days of written notice, the Department may remove the cat itself or reassign the colony to a different sponsor with the City Manager's approval.