Clinton Township, MI Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

14(h) as free-roaming cats cared for by area residents that may or may not be feral. Every community cat brought into the TNR process must be sterilized, ear-tipped, meaning a quarter-inch is removed from the left ear under veterinary anesthesia, and vaccinated for rabies before release back to its original territory. A colony may only be maintained on the private property of a registered community cat caregiver, or with the express permission of the property owner or manager where the colony lives. Caregivers face specific feeding limits: feeding stations must sit at least 30 feet from any primary residential or commercial structure, food may be set out no more than twice a day for only 30 minutes per feeding, must be placed in secure containers kept clean and sanitary, and may only be put out between dawn and dusk, with nothing left overnight.

Shelters, if provided, must likewise stay at least 30 feet from an occupied structure, be unobtrusive, safe and appropriately sized. Trapping a free-roaming or community cat is lawful only for TNR purposes, unless the cat is injured and needs veterinary care, and an ear-tipped cat brought to Animal Control must be returned to where it was trapped with no holding period unless it needs treatment. Feeding a community cat outside compliance with Macomb County's TNR program is itself a violation, meaning ad hoc feeding of an unmanaged colony can draw enforcement even where the underlying colony is otherwise tolerated.