Pinellas County, FL Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Adopted by Ord. No. 25-28 on December 16, 2025, Sec. 14-37 applies in unincorporated Pinellas County; cities such as St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo and the beach communities enforce their own animal codes. The ordinance defines a community cat as any feral or free-roaming cat cared for by one or more caregivers that has been sterilized, vaccinated for rabies, and marked by ear-tipping and tattoo. A cat that meets that definition is not subject to the county's cat license requirement and is not in violation of Sec. 14-33(b), abandonment, or Sec. 14-63, cats at-large, so long as the caregiver keeps meeting the section's standards.

Those standards require every colony location to sit on the caregiver's own property or on another owner's land with permission, and bar releasing a community cat within 150 yards of any park, conservation land, beach, wildlife area, day care center or elementary school. Caregivers must feed at least once daily in proper containers placed to avoid attracting wildlife, and food may not sit out longer than three hours in a 24-hour period; water must stay clean, potable and free of debris or algae. Caregivers remain bound by the county's animal neglect and cruelty laws and cannot let a cat suffer.

If Pinellas County Animal Services impounds a community cat, the county holds it two days, including the impoundment day, and the caregiver can redeem it during that window by paying the standard fees. On a cat's first impoundment, the county microchips it and gives it a rabies vaccination. An organization running an approved TNVR program builds in training on public education, veterinary partnerships, disease monitoring and colony management best practices.