Montgomery County, VA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Outside Blacksburg and Christiansburg, Montgomery County's animal ordinance treats cats differently from dogs: there is no cat license tag or running-at-large offense in Chapter 3, Article III. The one standing duty is rabies vaccination. Code Section 3-40 makes it unlawful to own, keep or harbor a cat over four months old unless it has been vaccinated against rabies with a state-department-of-health-approved vaccine, and the vaccination must not be past its expiration date. Owners must preserve the veterinarian's rabies inoculation receipt and show it on request to an animal warden or other officer.

1 requires any cat adopted from a county releasing agency to be sterilized: either the animal is already sterilized before release, or the new owner signs an agreement to have it done by a licensed veterinarian within thirty days of adoption, or within thirty days after it turns six months old if it was not yet sexually mature, prepaying the spay and neuter fee at adoption. A releasing agency may grant a further thirty-day extension on a veterinarian's written statement that sterilization would jeopardize the animal's health.

Cats are also covered by Section 3-27, which deems them personal property subject to larceny and unlawful-detention actions, and by the county animal shelter's impound-fee schedule in Section 3-28 for strays. There is no ordinance in this code authorizing or regulating feral cat colonies.