Oneida, NY Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Chapter 17's Article II licensing and identification scheme, running from § 17-16 through § 17-23, applies only to dogs; the definitions in § 17-17, including 'owner of record,' 'identification tag' and the annual fee structure in § 17-19, never mention cats. Cats fall instead under the chapter's general definitions: § 17-1 defines 'pet' to include cats along with dogs, cage birds and other house pets, and the 'domestic animal' definition, which triggers the separate at-large rule in § 17-4, is written around livestock like sheep, horses, cattle and fowl and does not include cats.

The one place cats get their own specific rule is § 17-3B, which says no unspayed female dog or cat in heat may be outside a building or a fenced enclosure. That single sentence is the entirety of Oneida's targeted cat regulation: there is no city-issued cat license, no numeric limit on how many cats a household may keep, and no feral-colony or trap-neuter-release provision anywhere in Chapter 17. Owners of cats otherwise remain subject to the chapter's general care and nuisance provisions, including § 17-7's requirement to provide sufficient food, water, shelter and veterinary care, and § 17-13's nuisance standard, which reaches an animal that causes damage or persistently disturbs neighbors regardless of species.