Mariposa County, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Mariposa County's Animal Control ordinance focuses on dogs; there is no cat license requirement and no cat leash law in the published county code. Cats appear in the code primarily in the shelter and impoundment provisions. Under Section 6.08.141, no public pound, SPCA shelter or humane shelter may sell or give away a cat that has not been spayed or neutered unless a spay/neuter deposit has been tendered, with the deposit not to exceed thirty dollars for cats. Cats and dogs over six months of age at the time of adoption must be spayed or neutered within sixty days, and those six months or younger within six months, or the deposit is deemed unclaimed and used for spay/neuter and public-education programs. The code also references state law for shelter cats: spaying and neutering of cats is to conform with Agriculture Code Sections 31750 and 31751. Impoundment provisions in Section 6.08.110 treat cats alongside other domestic animals, including holding periods and escalating reclaim fees for repeat impoundment. Because the county imposes no cat-specific licensing or confinement rule, owner responsibilities for cats default to general California law, including not allowing an animal to become a public nuisance. Owners are encouraged to keep cats from roaming onto neighbors' property and to use local low-cost spay/neuter resources, which the county notes Animal Control does not directly provide.