Rocklin, CA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Title 6 of the Rocklin Municipal Code treats cats differently from dogs and swine. Section 6.12.020(A) prohibits letting any animal run at large except the domestic cat, and Section 6.12.030 likewise bars any animal except the domestic cat from entering public property or private property without the owner's consent. Together these sections mean Rocklin does not require cats to be leashed, confined, or kept off a neighbor's yard the way it does dogs. That exemption is not absolute, however: Section 6.12.160 makes an owner responsible if their domestic cat damages public or private property, real or personal, or bites, scratches, or claws a human being or another animal that belongs to someone else.

Any cat that causes such damage or injury is subject to impoundment by the animal control officer. Rocklin's animal ordinances do not establish a separate municipal cat licensing program or a feral colony/trap-neuter-return provision; Chapter 6.16, which the code index lists for dog licenses, does not extend a parallel licensing requirement to cats. General care standards still apply to cats as to other animals: Section 6.12.110 requires adequate food, water, shelter, and proper care, and Section 6.12.120 bars damaging, harming, mutilating, maiming, or otherwise mistreating any animal, including a cat.