Otero County, NM Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Section 105-6 defines COMMUNITY CAT as any free-roaming cat cared for by known or unknown residents of an area, feral or not, distinguished from other cats by sterilization, vaccination and ear-tipping; once so marked it is exempt from licensing, limits, tags, and the stray and at-large provisions that apply to owned domestic animals. COMMUNITY CAT CAREGIVER covers anyone who feeds, shelters or medically cares for such a cat without becoming its legal owner, custodian or keeper; caregivers must minimize impact on local wildlife and feed proper quantities, and may redeem a community cat from the Otero County Animal Shelter without proof of ownership and free of any charges or fees.

EAR-TIPPING is defined in § 105-6 as removing about a quarter inch off a cat's ear tip in a straight cut, the universal mark of a sterilized, unowned cat; meeting that mark exempts the animal from licensing, limits, tags and certain stray/at-large rules. A community cat still is not immune from nuisance enforcement: § 105-8C(4) lets a Community Service Officer treat one that habitually or repeatedly destroys, desecrates or soils public or private property as a public nuisance, and § 105-8C(5) requires two sworn, signed complaints from unrelated County residents living within a mile before officers investigate a general animal-nuisance complaint absent direct observation.

Otero County Animal Control Services, under the Sheriff's Office, administers intake for the trap-neuter-vaccinate-return process referenced in § 105-7E, which also requires TNR-eligible community cats to be microchipped.