Elyria, OH Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Cat ownership in the City of Elyria is governed by a short set of provisions in Chapter 505, Animals and Fowl, rather than a cat licensing scheme. The registration and tag sections, §§ 505.03 and 505.035, speak only of dogs, and the at-large and restraint rules in § 505.01 name dogs and listed livestock, not cats. The word feral does not appear anywhere in the Codified Ordinances.

The operative rule is § 505.10(a): no owner or harborer of a dog, cat or other animal capable of contracting rabies, where a vaccine is available, can fail to have it vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian. Division (b) then requires that whenever a person is bitten by a dog or other animal, a report goes to the Health Officer within twenty-four hours. The biting animal must be examined at once by a qualified veterinarian, with results reported to the Health Officer within twenty-four hours. At the Health Officer's direction the animal is confined to the owner's premises away from the public or placed under a veterinarian's supervision at the owner's expense, and the isolation or observation period is not less than ten days from the date of the bite.

Under division (c), if the Health Officer or Animal Warden has grounds to believe a biting animal is unvaccinated, the animal is seized and quarantined with a licensed veterinarian at the owner's cost. Division (d) requires an owner of an animal known or suspected to have rabies to notify the Police Division or the Health District immediately and surrender the animal to the Animal Warden or Health Officer. A rabid animal is removed to the County Dog Pound or summarily destroyed.

Other Chapter 505 sections reach cats by name or by general terms. Section 505.04 bars abandoning a dog, cat or other domestic animal. Section 505.05 bars maliciously killing or injuring another person's cat. Section 505.08 declares an animal that scratches, digs or defecates on property other than its owner's a nuisance, and feces removed immediately count as abated.