Phoenix, AZ Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Cat license required
- No (dogs only, Sec. 8-12)
- Leash/at-large law
- Applies only to dogs
- Feral cats
- Excluded from hoarding cap
- Cat bite quarantine
- 7 days (Sec. 8-16)
- Stray cats
- May be impounded, Sec. 8-15
Summary
Phoenix requires no cat license and has no leash or at-large law for cats: only dogs are covered. The city's animal hoarding ordinance also specifically exempts feral cats from its ten-animal cap.
A. A person commits animal hoarding if a person owns, possesses, keeps, harbors, or maintains ten or more animals under circumstances injurious to the health or welfare of any animal or person... B. Subsection A of this section excludes feral cats. A feral cat is a cat that is not domesticated or has become wild or is a free-roaming cat.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance G-7524, passed June 17, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Phoenix City Code Ch. 8 licenses and confines only dogs: Sec. 8-12 sets license fees "for each altered dog," and Sec. 8-14's leash/enclosure rule is titled "Dogs not permitted at large." Cats aren't mentioned in either, so a Phoenix cat can roam without a license or leash. Separately, Sec. 8-3.09 makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to keep ten or more animals in injurious conditions, but subsection B carves feral cats out of that count entirely, so a free-roaming colony can't be charged as hoarding. A stray cat can still be impounded under Sec. 8-15, and any cat that bites a person faces the same seven-day quarantine as a dog under Sec. 8-16.
Violations & Fines
Keeping 10+ non-feral animals in unsanitary or injurious conditions is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Sec. 8-3.09(A), with court-ordered mental health evaluation. Feral cats don't count toward that threshold, and there's no citation for an unlicensed or unleashed cat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to license my cat in Phoenix?
Can my cat roam free in Phoenix?
Does feeding a feral cat colony count as animal hoarding in Phoenix?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Phoenix
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