Bend, OR Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Bend Code 5.20.025 bars any animal other than a domestic cat from running at large, meaning cats are the only animal the City lets roam beyond the owner's premises without a leash or tether. Bend Code 5.20.015 similarly exempts cats from the citywide requirement that an owner remove an animal's solid waste from someone else's property, applying that duty only to 'an owner or keeper of an animal other than a domestic cat.' Cats are not entirely unregulated, though: Bend Code 5.20.040(B) sets out a shorter, cat-specific nuisance list separate from the one that applies to dogs and other animals.

Under that subsection a domestic cat is a nuisance if it bites, injures or attacks a person without provocation; places a person in fear of imminent physical injury without provocation; is trained for or used in animal fighting; disturbs any person by frequent or prolonged noises; or attends a special event as defined in Bend Code Title 7. Any member of the Bend Police Department may apply to the Bend Municipal Court for a warrant to search for and seize a cat that has committed one of these nuisance acts under Bend Code 5.20.055, and repeated or serious nuisance findings can lead a Municipal Court Judge to terminate the owner's rights to the cat or order it destroyed under Bend Code 5.20.070.