Gilroy, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Gilroy City Code § 4.32 requires every cat owner to have cats over four months old vaccinated with an antirabies vaccine approved by the State Department of Public Health, with revaccination on whatever schedule that department prescribes. The city eliminated its separate cat license requirement: § 4.31, formerly titled "Cats - Licenses required," was repealed by Ordinance No. 2015-10, so Gilroy regulates cats through vaccination and at-large rules rather than a tag system. Section 4.36(a) makes it unlawful for an owner or person with custody of a cat to let it run at large on any public street or public place, or on private property or the common area of a planned development, cluster, townhouse or condominium project, without the property owner's consent.

The fine for an at-large cat is set by § 4.9, the chapter's general penalty schedule: up to $100 for a first infraction, up to $200 for a second violation of the same provision within a year, and up to $500 for each further violation in that year, capped at three infractions before a fourth becomes a misdemeanor. Section 4.36(c) gives owners an out: if, within fifteen days of the citation, the owner shows the enforcing officer that the cat is already sterilized, or has the cat spayed or neutered and provides veterinary proof of the surgery, the city waives the at-large fine or penalty entirely.

The administrator, defined at § 4.1 as the chief of police or an assigned animal control officer, enforces both the vaccination duty and the at-large prohibition.