Modesto, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Modesto Municipal Code Section 5-4.506(f) states plainly: "A cat owner may voluntarily obtain a license for their cat. If the cat owner voluntarily purchases a cat license, then the cat owner shall be eligible to receive a voucher for the spay/neuter identification program operated by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services." Dog licensing, by contrast, is mandatory for any dog four months or older under Section 5-4.506(a), which underscores that the City treats cats differently.

Feral and barn cats get their own registration track. Section 5-4.502(b) exempts a person "caring for barn cats or a colony of feral cats" from being treated as that animal's legal owner, so long as the caretaker registers with the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services as a caretaker for barn cats or feral cats; regularly feeds the cats, including on weekends and holidays; traps or makes a reasonable effort to trap all cats over seven weeks old to have them spayed or neutered; tests trapped cats for feline leukemia and FIV, euthanizing or isolating those that test positive; identifies altered cats by ear notching, tipping or tagging; and has all trapped cats vaccinated according to State and local law.

That registration matters for the separate stray-animal ordinance in Section 5-4.405, which otherwise makes it unlawful to contain a stray animal, including a cat, and then release it somewhere else rather than returning it, reporting it, or surrendering it to the Stanislaus Animal Services Agency within 24 hours. Section 5-4.405(d) carves out an exception: the section "shall not be interpreted to apply to a person or organization registered with the Stanislaus Animal Services Agency as a caretaker for feral cats when that person is caring for feral cats." Without that registration, trap-and-release colony care can otherwise run afoul of the abandonment rule.