Sumter County, FL Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Under Sumter County Code § 4-6, every cat at least four months old must have a current rabies vaccination administered by a licensed veterinarian and must be licensed through Sumter County Animal Services, which issues a metal license tag. License and rabies-vaccination fees are set by board resolution, not fixed in the code itself. A cat's rabies certificate must state the vaccination date, vaccine type, administering veterinarian, and the animal's identifying details, with one copy kept by the owner, one by the veterinarian, and one returned to the county.

Cats without a current license tag are subject to a fine set by county resolution, though no fine is assessed if a valid tag or receipt can be produced at the time of impoundment. Cat-dog hybrids meeting the FWC's Class II Captive Wildlife threshold need a state wildlife permit instead of a county license; hybrids that do not meet that threshold still need the standard Sumter County animal license. Under Sec. 4-11(k), Sumter County Animal Services also runs a trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) program: every healthy cat entering the county shelter is eligible, and eligible cats are sterilized, microchipped, ear-tipped, vaccinated, and returned to the location where they were picked up rather than held for adoption or destroyed.

Impoundment holds differ by age: the code sets no stray hold at all for kittens under five months or for healthy cats five months and older before they may move to a live outcome such as TNVR.