Moreno Valley, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Section 10.02.030 makes cat licensing voluntary: an owner "may be issued a license, including microchip," upon presenting a veterinarian's certificate of vaccination and paying the council-set fee, a contrast to Section 10.02.020's mandatory dog license. Because licensing is optional, Moreno Valley's animal-control provisions carve cats out of other rules too. Section 10.02.080's at-large law makes it unlawful for an owner "of any animal, other than a cat," to allow the animal to run loose, and repeats the exemption for any person who "causes any animal, other than a cat, to run at large." A colony of five or more cats four months or older on one property meets the definition of a "cattery" in Section 10.02.010 and then needs both a kennel/cattery license from the chief animal control officer and a conditional use permit under Section 10.02.040, with at least an annual inspection.

Impoundment timelines single cats out too: Section 10.02.090(I) lets an officer destroy an unlicensed impounded animal after five business days without redemption, "unless the animal is a feral cat, then the animal may be destroyed after three business days." Two duties apply to cats whether or not the optional license is obtained: mandatory spay/neuter under Section 10.02.100 for any unaltered cat absent a veterinarian's infirmity exemption, and mandatory microchipping under Section 10.02.105 for any cat over four months kept in the city 30 days or longer.