Garden Grove, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Cat licensing
- optional unless 5+ cats kept
- 5+ cats
- requires Director's animal permit
- Trapping any cat
- requires annual permit, Jan-Dec
- Eartipping
- marks a cat as sterilized/vaccinated
- TNR return of community cat
- not legal abandonment
Summary
Cat licensing is optional in Garden Grove unless a household keeps five or more cats, which triggers the animal permit requirement in Municipal Code Section 6.04.100(F). Section 6.04.160 separately authorizes trap-neuter-return for free-roaming "community cats," but trapping any cat still requires a permit from the Director.
The owner of any cat may, upon submission of proof of rabies vaccination, certified to by a licensed veterinarian, and upon payment of the fee established by resolution of the City Council, be issued a license certificate and tag. ... The obtaining of such a license shall be optional on the part of the owner, except as provided in Section 6.04.100(F). ... Trapping, subject to subsection (C) below, for the sole purpose of sterilizing, vaccinating for rabies, and eartipping community cats ... Trapping Permit Required. No person shall set up a trap or perform any trapping of a cat without first obtaining a permit therefor from the Director.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4903654; v10 updated 2026-05-12).
Full Breakdown
020. 160 addresses free-roaming cats directly, defining a "community cat" as a free-roaming cat cared for by area residents that may or may not be feral, and "eartipping" as the sterile surgical removal of about 3/8 inch of a community cat's left ear to mark it as sterilized and vaccinated. Subsection (B) permits trapping community cats solely to sterilize, vaccinate, and eartip them under a licensed veterinarian's supervision, requires eartipped cats received by shelters to be returned to where they were trapped unless they need veterinary care, and states that returning a community cat after trap-neuter-return is not abandonment.
The City also directs its Director and local shelter to favor trap-neuter-return over other dispositions for impounded community cats under (B)(4). Subsection (C) requires anyone setting a trap for any cat, community cat or not, to first get a trapping permit from the Director, valid for the calendar year from January through December.
Violations & Fines
Trapping a cat without the permit required by Section 6.04.160(C), or keeping five or more cats without the animal permit required by Section 6.04.100(F), is enforced under Chapter 6.04's standard scheme: a first offense is an infraction under Section 6.04.060(A), escalating to a misdemeanor if it recurs within a year of two other separate chapter violations under 6.04.060(B).
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to license my cat in Garden Grove?
Can I trap a stray cat in my neighborhood?
Is it legal to feed and care for a feral cat colony in Garden Grove?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Garden Grove
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