Kent County requires licensing and leashing only for dogs, not cats. Cats are still covered by the ordinance's adequate-care and cruelty provisions, and by Michigan's animal-cruelty law. Any cat-specific rule comes from your city or township.
The county's licensing, leash, and running-at-large requirements apply to dogs, not cats -- there is no county cat license or cat leash law. Cats do fall under the ordinance's general 'Animal' definition, so Section 13's adequate-care standards (food, water, shelter, sanitary conditions, veterinary attention) and its cruelty and abandonment prohibitions protect cats. Michigan's animal-cruelty statute (MCL 750.50) also applies statewide. If your city, village, or township has adopted cat-specific rules such as trap-neuter-return programs or roaming limits, those come from the municipality, not Kent County.
Cruelty or inadequate-care violations are municipal civil infractions ($100/$200) or may be prosecuted as crimes under Michigan's animal-cruelty law with jail and larger fines.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Grand Rapids's cat rules rules stack up against other locations.
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