San Bernardino County, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- County cat license
- Not required (dogs only)
- At-large ban
- Applies to pet cats
- TNVR exemption
- Ear-tipped colony cats exempt
- Enforcing agency
- Public Health Animal Care and Control
- Governing code
- County Code § 32.0101, § 32.0108
Summary
Cats need no county license, but strays and pet cats can't roam free: except community cats returned under a TNVR colony program.
(a) Except as to community cats returned and released to their point of pick-up as part of a TNVR program, no person owning or having control of any animal shall permit such animal to stray, to run at large upon any private or public street, sidewalk, school ground, public park, playground, place of public assembly or any other public place or upon any unenclosed private lot or other unenclosed private place or upon any private property without the consent of the owner or person in control thereof.
Full Breakdown
Unlike dogs, cats are never required to carry a San Bernardino County license, only dogs four months and older must be licensed under § 32.0209. But cats still fall under the countywide at-large ban: an owner or keeper can't let any animal, cats included, stray onto streets, sidewalks, parks or someone else's unenclosed property. The one carve-out is for community cats, free-roaming, unowned cats trapped, vaccinated, sterilized, ear-tipped and released back to their pickup point through a Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return program. Those cats aren't treated as abandoned or unlawfully at large when returned to their colony site.
Violations & Fines
Animal Control can impound a stray or roaming pet cat; TNVR-managed, ear-tipped community cats returned to their colony site are exempt from at-large and abandonment enforcement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to license my cat in unincorporated San Bernardino County?
Can I get in trouble for feeding a feral cat colony?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in San Bernardino County
California rules heatmap·Compare San Bernardino County to another location·View the California animal ordinances overview
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