Hawthorne's mandatory licensing applies to dogs only; the city does not require a license for individual house cats. However, keeping four or more cats over four months of age is defined as a cat facility under the Hawthorne Municipal Code and is subject to registration. Cats are recognized household pets exempt from the 35-foot animal setback.
Hawthorne treats cats far more permissively than dogs. The city's licensing program, administered through PetData, requires that 'all dogs 4 months of age and older and residing in the City of Hawthorne are required to have a current rabies vaccination and be licensed annually' - the requirement is stated for dogs, and the city does not impose a comparable mandatory license on individual house cats. Cats are also expressly listed among the household pets (dog, cat, canary, parrot, or similar) that are allowed without a special permit, and cats are exempt from Chapter 6.24's rule that other animals be kept at least 35 feet from any habitable dwelling. The principal cat-specific limit is numerical: the Hawthorne Municipal Code defines a facility keeping four or more cats over the age of four months as a cat facility, which moves the household into a registration/permitting category rather than ordinary pet keeping. There is no city-mandated indoor-only or cat-leash requirement in the code reviewed; however, owners remain responsible for nuisance behavior, and cruelty or neglect of cats is a crime statewide under California Penal Code §597. Rabies vaccination is strongly encouraged for cats even though the city license requirement is keyed to dogs. Cat owners with several cats should confirm with Animal Control whether their number triggers cat-facility registration.
There is no city cat-license violation for ordinary house cats, because mandatory licensing is keyed to dogs. The main enforceable cat-specific threshold is keeping four or more cats over four months without the required cat-facility registration, which is enforceable by Animal Control or Code Enforcement and may lead to citation. Nuisance conditions caused by cats can be abated under the city's animal-nuisance provisions, and neglect or cruelty toward a cat is a misdemeanor or felony under California Penal Code §597.
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