Bowie, MD Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Section 4-7C requires that any dog or cat over the age of four months not be kept within the City unless it has a current rabies vaccination backed by a valid certificate the owner can produce. Section 4-7B addresses cats in estrus by name: the owner of any female dog, cat or other animal that is 'in heat' must keep her confined within a building or secure enclosure, or under restraint, so she cannot contact any other dog, cat or animal, except for intentional breeding.

Section 4-7F requires every dog or cat to be properly licensed under the provisions of the Prince George's County Animal Control Ordinance, since Bowie does not run its own separate licensing program. Because cats meet the Chapter 4 definition of ANIMAL at § 4-1, they are also covered by the general running-at-large rule (§ 4-6), the nuisance-animal and nuisance-condition provisions (§ 4-13), and the excrement-removal duty at § 4-17, which exempts only seeing-eye dogs from the pickup requirement. An animal control officer can impound a cat found at large, and a cat that bites a person or another animal is subject to the ten-day confinement rule at § 4-8.