Jackson County, GA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Section 8-72(f), part of the county's control-of-domestic-animals article, requires confinement of dogs and cats in heat. A female cat (or dog) in heat must be confined in a building or other enclosure built and maintained so it cannot come into contact with an intact male of the same species, except for a planned breeding. Subsection (f)(1) sets a materials standard: the enclosure or fence must completely prevent contact between animals on either side, and chain link fencing and other penetrable materials are specifically disqualified as suitable confinement while an animal is in heat.

Subsection (f)(2) adds a temperature floor and ceiling, requiring the animal to be kept at an ambient temperature between 45 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit during that period. This sits within the broader restraint-and-control scheme of section 8-72, so a cat owner who fails to confine a cat in heat is also failing to keep the animal under the restraint required by subsection (a), exposing the owner to the same enforcement path as any other domestic-animal-control violation: a complaint to county animal control, investigation, and citation if the condition is not corrected.