Frederick County, VA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Chapter 48 of the County Code is titled "Dog Licensing; Rabies Control," and nearly every operative section, the license tax, the at-large ban in § 48-3, the shelter and impoundment process in §§ 48-4 through 48-6, applies to dogs by name and does not reach cats. The one place cats appear directly is § 48-22(A), the rabies-control article's vaccination mandate: "Vaccination required. " There is no county cat license, no cat tag requirement and no printed cat-at-large or feral-colony provision in this code; the rabid-animal confinement scheme in § 48-22(B) requires owners of "all dogs" to confine them during a declared rabies emergency, again naming dogs specifically rather than cats.

The County's dog-license fund can, however, be spent to promote "efforts to promote sterilization of dogs and cats" under § 48-21(A)(1)(f), so a county-funded spay/neuter effort touching cats exists even though no cat-specific licensing law does. Enforcement of the rabies mandate falls to the County Health Officer, who under § 48-22(B)(3) must be notified by anyone aware of an animal apparently afflicted with rabies, and any animal, dog or cat, that bites a person can be ordered confined for observation for up to 10 days at the County Health Officer's discretion under § 48-22(B)(5).