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.
Kent County, MI
Backyard composting is allowed and encouraged in Kent County. Michigan law bans yard clippings from landfills, and the Kent County Department of Public Works...
Kent County, MI
Kent County has no artificial-turf ordinance. Whether synthetic grass is allowed in a front yard is a city or township zoning and property-maintenance questi...
Kent County, MI
Kent County has no native-plant ordinance. Whether a naturalized or prairie-style yard is allowed is set by your city or township, and must be reconciled wit...
Kent County, MI
Collecting rainwater is legal in Michigan and Kent County places no restriction on it. Rain barrels and cisterns for lawn and garden use are allowed; only cr...
Kent County, MI
Kent County sets no lawn-watering schedule. Michigan is not a drought-restricted state, so there is no county odd/even or day-of-week watering rule. Any limi...
Kent County, MI
Under Michigan's Noxious Weed Act, a landowner must destroy noxious weeds before they go to seed. Enforcement runs through a local noxious-weed commissioner ...
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