Cleveland, OH Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Impound fee
- $40.00 to redeem
- Boarding charge
- $20.00 per day at kennel
- Redemption window (unlicensed)
- 3 days after impoundment/notice
- Cat licensing
- Not required (dogs only, § 603.05)
- Enforcing agency
- Division of Animal Care and Control
Summary
Cleveland has no cat licensing requirement, but a cat found at large or abandoned can be impounded under Codified Ordinances § 603.03. Redeeming an impounded cat costs a $40 pound fee plus $20 per day of boarding, and an unlicensed cat left unredeemed past three days may be euthanized, transferred, or adopted out.
When any unmuzzled dog, cat, or domestic animal is found at large in violation of Section 603.02, or abandoned in violation of Section 603.06 ... a police officer or animal control officer shall take up and impound the dog, cat, or domestic animal in a City pound. No dog, cat, or domestic animal shall be returned from the pound until a fee of forty dollars ($40.00) is paid to the City... Any impounded domestic animal, cat, or dog that is not wearing a valid registration tag and is unredeemed after three (3) days from the later of date of impoundment or the date on which notice was given may be euthanized, transferred, made available for fostering or adoption, on order of the Director of Public Safety or the Chief Animal Control Officer. ... the owner ... shall pay a fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) per day for each day the animal was boarded at the kennel.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-28: Current through legislation passed September 1, 2026).
Full Breakdown
05 applies to dogs. 06, a police officer or Division of Animal Care and Control officer takes the cat to the City pound. 03(c) rather than the tag-holder notice process in (b): the animal control officer lists the cat in a record management system so an owner can identify and reclaim it, and if the cat remains unredeemed for three days after impoundment (or after notice, whichever is later), the Director of Public Safety or the Chief Animal Control Officer may order it euthanized, transferred, or made available for fostering or adoption.
03(f) lets the Director of Public Safety or Chief Animal Control Officer waive any of these fees, once, for an owner shown to be indigent under federal poverty guidelines. 05 requires for dogs, so a cat cannot be cited for lacking a tag, only impounded for running at large or being abandoned.
Violations & Fines
A cat impounded under § 603.03 that is not reclaimed within three days of impoundment or notice, whichever is later, may be euthanized, transferred, or made available for adoption or fostering on the order of the Director of Public Safety or the Chief Animal Control Officer. Redemption before that point requires the $40.00 impound fee plus $20.00 per day of boarding at the kennel; the fee schedule is set out in § 603.03(a) and (d), with an indigency waiver available once under § 603.03(f).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Cleveland require me to license my cat?
How long does the pound hold an impounded cat before it can be adopted out?
How much does it cost to get my cat back from the Cleveland pound?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cleveland
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Cat Rules in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Cuyahoga County handle cat rules.