Yuba County, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Chapter 8.05 is Yuba County's general Animal Care ordinance, and § 8.05.080 carves domestic cats out of nearly all of it: the Chapter's dog-focused licensing (§ 8.05.100), rabies-tag, and leash requirements simply do not reach cats, because the exemption limits Chapter 8.05's application to cats to 'provisions relating to disease control.' The Chapter defines 'Cat' to include 'all felines' (§ 8.05.020(6)), so the exemption covers house cats and any other feline an owner keeps.

Where cats do show up in the Chapter is the impoundment process for strays and ferals, run by Yuba County Animal Care under § 8.05.180(3). A stray cat gets a six-business-day holding period, cut to four business days if the shelter offers at least one weekday evening until 7:00 p.m. or a weekend redemption slot, or if it has fewer than three full-time employees and offers redemption by appointment. During that window, the Animal Care Officer must check every impounded cat for identification, 'including scanning for microchips,' and make reasonable efforts to contact the owner.

Feral cats get a separate track. Using the criteria in Food and Agricultural Code § 31752.5, the Animal Care Officer decides whether an impounded stray cat is domesticated or feral; a cat found feral and unclaimed within the first three days of the holding period may be euthanized or handed to a nonprofit rescue, while a domesticated cat gets the full holding period described above (§ 8.05.180(4)). Before any stray cat is killed for a reason other than irremediable suffering, it must first be offered to a requesting nonprofit rescue or adoption organization (§ 8.05.180(3)(d)). Cats retrieved from impoundment or adopted at four months or older must still be vaccinated against rabies before release (§ 8.05.190(1)), which is the disease-control piece the exemption in § 8.05.080 preserves.