Bartholomew County, IN Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Cat license
- required per I.C. 15-20 (§ 92.03)
- Abandonment fine
- $100 if paid within 5 days (§ 92.99(A))
- Feral colony exception
- trapped, spayed/neutered cats may be returned
- Who may return feral cats
- authorized shelter or contracted organization
- Max court fine
- $500 per offense
Summary
Every cat owner in unincorporated Bartholomew County must license the cat as state law requires, and abandoning a cat is unlawful, but the code carves out a specific exception for trap-neuter-return: an authorized shelter or organization may lawfully return a trapped, spayed or neutered feral cat to where it was found.
§ 92.03 LICENSING OF DOGS AND CATS. ... Any person owning, keeping, harboring or having custody of a dog or cat must obtain a license as required by state law, I.C. 15-20. ... (C) It shall be unlawful for any owner of any dog, cat or other animal to abandon the same within the county. However, nothing contained herein shall prohibit an animal shelter or any organization contracted with or sanctioned by the county to provide humane animal care from returning any feral cat that has been trapped and spayed or neutered to the location from which the cat had previously been removed.
Full Breakdown
C. 15-20; the county code does not set its own separate license fee or renewal schedule for cats, deferring that to the state licensing statute. 05(C), but that same subsection carves out feral cat colony management: nothing in the abandonment ban stops an animal shelter, or any organization contracted with or sanctioned by the county to provide humane animal care, from returning a feral cat that has been trapped and spayed or neutered to the location it was originally removed from. That exception is what makes trap-neuter-return work for community cat colonies lawful in the unincorporated county, rather than being treated as illegal abandonment.
04, including confinement requirements for a cat in heat and for any vicious animal, and into the at-large nuisance rule discussed separately for dogs. 01 applies equally to cats: a household harboring four or more cats (or a mix of cats and other animals) meets that definition regardless of any commercial activity.
Violations & Fines
A violation of the licensing requirement in § 92.03 or the abandonment ban in § 92.05(C) is punished under § 92.99: the fixed notice-of-violation fine for abandonment is $100 if paid within five days at the County Treasurer's office, and prosecution in county court for a violation other than licensing is a misdemeanor with a fine of not less than the § 92.99(A) amount and not more than $500, each day a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to license my cat in unincorporated Bartholomew County?
Is trap-neuter-return legal for feral cat colonies?
Is it illegal to abandon a cat in the county?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bartholomew County
Compare Bartholomew County to another location·View the Indiana animal ordinances overview
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