Fresno County, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Fresno County Code Chapter 9.10, Community Cat Population Management, adopted by Ordinance No. 22-010 on July 12, 2022, defines a "community cat" in Section 9.10.010(C) as a cat with no identifiable signs of ownership that primarily lives outdoors in the county, alone or in a colony, regardless of how feral or socialized it is. Section 9.10.030(A) makes the community cat protocol, trap, evaluate, sterilize, ear-tip and return, the preferred disposition, subject to a licensed veterinarian's determination that the cat is healthy enough to live outdoors, and authorizes any person or county entity to carry it out. Subsection B limits trapping equipment to a humane box trap or drop trap, and bars darts, tranquilizers or any other mind-altering substance during trapping or transport. Subsection D requires every veterinary step, sterilizing, vaccinating, ear-tipping and tattooing, to follow California law, and Subsection E requires returning the sterilized, ear-tipped cat to the location where it was trapped or as close as feasible.

Section 9.10.030(F) makes clear that a caregiver who feeds or shelters a community cat gains no ownership or legal interest in it, and Subsection G states that no part of the protocol, including returning the cat outdoors, counts as abandonment. Section 9.10.020 lets the county establish a fund or provide services to offset caregivers' protocol costs where funding allows. Chapter 9.04's dog-focused "at large" and licensing sections do not apply to cats; cats fall instead under this chapter and under Chapter 9.05's breeding and sale rules, which require a breeding permit before an owner may let an unaltered cat breed or be sold.