Rio Rancho requires cats over five months old to be spayed or neutered unless the owner holds an intact animal permit. Cats also need a city license, and they count toward the five-animal household limit. License fees are $4 for an altered cat and $25 for an unaltered cat.
Section 90.19 of the Rio Rancho Municipal Code requires that no person or animal organization keep, harbor, or maintain within the city any cat over five months of age that has not been sterilized (spayed or neutered) unless the owner has obtained an intact animal permit. Intact animal permits may be issued with conditions, including a medical exemption supported by a licensed veterinarian's signed statement, or a competition/show exemption for cats shown in contests recognized by an approved breed registry such as the Cat Fanciers' Association (recognition is at RRARC's discretion). According to the city's animal regulations, an intact animal permit carries a $175 fee. Cats also require a city license under Section 90.19; per the city's published fees, an altered dog or cat license is $4 (with a reduced $2 senior rate for altered animals) and an unaltered animal license is $25. Cats count toward the five-animal-per-household limit in Section 90.20, which covers dogs, cats, pygmy goats, and rabbits in any combination over six months of age. General Chapter 90 rules - such as confinement to the owner's premises, the leash requirement when off-property, rabies vaccination, and nuisance/noise provisions - apply to cats as 'animals' under the chapter.
Keeping an unsterilized cat without an intact animal permit, or failing to license a cat, violates Section 90.19 and is enforced under the Chapter 90 penalty schedule (Section 90.99): minimum $35 first offense, $75 second, $125 third, and $250-$500 for a fourth or later offense.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Rio Rancho has no ordinance prohibiting backyard composting, and the City does not publish backyard-composting container rules. Green waste must be taken to ...
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Rio Rancho does not publish a specific ordinance permitting or banning artificial turf. The City's Chapter 154 landscaping rules target cool-season natural t...
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Rio Rancho encourages native and low-water-use plants and, under Chapter 154 (Planning and Zoning), prohibits cool-season turf grass in residential front yar...
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Rainwater harvesting is legal and encouraged for Rio Rancho residents. There is no City prohibition; the practice is governed by New Mexico's Office of the S...
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Under Chapter 52 (Water Conservation), Rio Rancho prohibits spray irrigation from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day from April 1 through October 31 for all properti...
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Under Chapter 91 (Nuisances; Health and Sanitation), Rio Rancho requires developed property to be kept free of dry vegetation, tumbleweeds, weeds, bushes, an...
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