Montebello, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Cat licensing status
- Optional, not mandatory, §6.16.020
- Breeding location limit
- Industrial zones only, §6.40.030
- Cat kennel zoning
- Industrial zones with approved kennel
- Breeder permit
- Required from animal care director, §6.40.010
- Feral colony ordinance
- None specific to cats in code
- General animal-code fine
- Up to $250 per violation
Summary
In the City of Montebello, cat licensing is optional rather than mandatory under Section 6.16.020, but keeping cats mainly for breeding or running a cat kennel is restricted to industrially zoned property with an approved kennel under Sections 6.40.030 and 6.40.040.
In order to provide a method for identifying cats, a license may be obtained as prescribed in Chapter 6.24 of this code. This section shall not require the licensing of cats, but merely provide for their optional licensing. ... No person shall keep or maintain or suffer or permit to be kept or maintained upon any premises owned or controlled by him or it, any ... cat, male or female, kept mainly for breeding purposes, except within industrially zoned property and then only in an approved kennel. ... In any portion of the city no person shall establish, keep or maintain, or suffer or permit to be established, kept or maintained, upon premises owned or controlled by him in the city, any cat kennel, except within industrially zoned property and then only in an approved kennel.
Full Breakdown
Montebello Municipal Code Section 6.16.020 lets cat owners obtain an identification license through the same chapter that covers dog licenses, Chapter 6.24, but the section is explicit that cat licensing shall not require the licensing of cats, but merely provide for their optional licensing. Unlike dogs, cats do not have to be licensed to legally reside in the city. Breeding and boarding cats are treated differently: Section 6.40.030 bars keeping any cat mainly for breeding purposes anywhere except on industrially zoned property, and even there only inside an approved kennel; Section 6.40.040 applies the identical industrial-zoning-and-approved-kennel restriction to any cat kennel operation, regardless of whether breeding is involved.
Section 6.40.010 additionally requires anyone who breeds cats or dogs to hold a breeder's permit from the director of animal care and control, with the sale of a kitten from a litter for more than the cost of advertising treated as prima facie evidence of breeding requiring the permit. The Montebello Municipal Code does not print a separate feral-colony or trap-neuter-release ordinance for cats; colony management in the city runs through the general nuisance, at-large and impoundment provisions of Title 6 rather than a cat-specific program.
Any cat found running loose may still be picked up under Chapter 6.32's impoundment provisions, and enforcement rests with the department of animal care and control, run for the city under contract by SEAACA.
Violations & Fines
Operating a cat kennel or breeding cats outside industrially zoned property, or breeding without the Section 6.40.010 permit, is an infraction under the Title 6 penalty clause, Section 6.04.080, punishable by a fine up to $250 per offense, with each day of continued violation charged separately. Because cat licensing itself is optional, there is no citation for failing to license a cat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to license my cat in Montebello?
Can I run a cat breeding operation from my home in Montebello?
Does Montebello have a feral cat colony ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Montebello
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