Chapel Hill, NC Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Section 4-17 of the Chapel Hill Code makes licensing a county function rather than a town one: every dog and cat over four months old housed in town must carry an Orange County license tag, issued once the license fee set by the Orange County Commissioners is paid, and a lost tag costs extra to replace. Section 4-18(a) layers on a separate rabies requirement: every dog or cat four months or older housed in town must stay currently vaccinated against rabies at all times, and the custodian has to produce proof of that vaccination whenever the animal control officer asks.

Failing to produce proof lets the officer impound the animal, subject to the redemption procedure elsewhere in the chapter. The Code does not set up any town-run feral-cat colony or trap-neuter-return program; Chapter 4 addresses only owned cats through licensing, vaccination and the nuisance provisions. A cat that is off the custodian's premises without its current license and rabies tags becomes a public nuisance under Section 4-14(7), which the animal control officer can act on the same way as a stray dog: impoundment, a citation, and the escalating civil-penalty schedule for repeat Section 4-14 violations.

Because Sections 4-17 and 4-18 set no fine of their own for a bare licensing or vaccination lapse, that gap is covered by Section 1-7's general penalty of up to fifty dollars or thirty days in jail.