Carroll County, GA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Carroll County, Georgia does not require cat licensing, but Chapter 14, Article III sets out how the county's Animal Control Department handles free-roaming cats in the unincorporated county only (Carrollton and the county's other cities are not covered). Section 14-51 defines a 'community cat' as an unowned, free-roaming cat marked by surgical ear-tip under a county-approved community cat or TNR (trap-neuter-return) program, a 'feral cat' as one unsocialized and fearful of humans, and a 'feral cat caregiver' as a person who feeds, shelters or has temporary custody of such a cat under an approved program.

' Once a cat is enrolled as a community cat, § 14-54(10) gives it protection from routine impoundment: 'No healthy community cat shall be impounded unless it: a. Damages the personal or private property of a person or legal entity that seeks its impoundment; or b. ' Feral kittens younger than four months may still be impounded for less than the standard three-day hold at the department's discretion under § 14-54(9). Abandoning a cat outside a TNR or community cat program remains cruelty to animals under § 14-57(8), which exempts only feral cat caregivers and program-approved release.