Dougherty County, GA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing law
- Res. No. 25-018 (Apr. 21, 2025), Sec. 2-3.5-21 to -34
- Community cat exemption
- Sec. 2-3.5-23(f): not at large, not impounded
- Caregiver status
- Not deemed owner/harborer under Sec. 2-3.5-22
- Exception
- Impoundable if injured or showing illness
- General penalty
- $100-$1,000 fine or up to 60 days jail
Summary
In unincorporated Dougherty County, free-roaming community and feral cats are exempt from the county's at-large impoundment rules. Animal control regulations define a 'community cat' and 'community cat caregiver' who feeds or shelters them under a trap-neuter-return effort, and Sec. 2-3.5-23(f) bars officers from impounding a healthy free-roaming cat just for being loose.
Community cat means any free-roaming cat who may be cared for by one (1) or more residents of the immediate area who is/are known or unknown; a community cat may or may not be feral. Community cat caregiver means a person who, in accordance with a good faith effort to conduct trap-neuter-return, provides care, to include providing food, shelter, or medical care, to one (1) or more community cats. However, community cat caregivers shall not be considered the owner, harborer, controller, or keeper of a community cat. ... (f)Free roaming community cats and feral cats shall not be considered to be at large and will not be impounded unless showing signs and symptoms of injury or illness.
Full Breakdown
The Board of Commissioners rewrote the county's animal control regulations by Resolution No. 25-018, adopted April 21, 2025, which repealed the prior article and enacted the current definitions and rules at Sec. 5-21 through Sec. 5-34. Under Sec. 5-22, a 'community cat' is any free-roaming cat cared for by one or more residents of the immediate area, whether or not it is feral, and a 'community cat caregiver' who feeds, shelters, or provides medical care as part of a good-faith trap-neuter-return effort is expressly not treated as the cat's owner, harborer, or keeper for liability purposes.
The chapter's definition of 'animal at large' already carves domestic cats out of the general leash requirement, and Sec. 5-23(f) goes further: free-roaming community cats and feral cats are not considered at large and will not be impounded by an animal services officer unless the cat is showing signs or symptoms of injury or illness. , cannot pick up a healthy colony cat simply for roaming loose. If a cat is sick, hurt, or otherwise in distress, Sec. 5-30 still authorizes impoundment of any unattended, ill, or injured animal, and the standard rabies-vaccination duty in Sec.
5-29, requiring cats three months or older to be vaccinated, is unaffected by the caregiver exemption. No separate county cat-licensing requirement is printed in this chapter beyond the rabies tag or microchip identification rule that applies to dogs and cats alike.
Violations & Fines
Because community and feral cats are not 'at large' under Sec. 2-3.5-23(f), a caregiver feeding them commits no violation on that basis alone. Sec. 2-3.5-34 sets the general animal-control penalty: conviction brings a fine of $100 to $1,000, up to 60 days in jail, or both, with each day a violation continues charged as a separate offense, enforced in the Magistrate Court of Dougherty County.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Dougherty County pick up my community cat colony?
Am I the legal owner of cats I feed outdoors?
Does Dougherty County require cat licenses?
What happens if a community cat gets sick?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Dougherty County
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