Spring Hill, TN Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

The cat rule in Title 10 is the at-large prohibition in § 10-101, which lists cats first in a series with cows, swine, sheep, horses, mules, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, other domestic fowl, cattle and livestock. An owner or person in charge violates it by knowingly or negligently permitting a cat to run at large in any street, alley or unenclosed lot within the corporate limits. The prohibition is tied to streets, alleys and unenclosed lots. Section 10-102 separately requires a permit from the Health Officer to keep any animal or fowl enumerated in the preceding section within 1,000 feet of any residence, place of business or public street, and the list in § 10-101 opens with cats.

Enforcement runs through § 10-107. The Health Officer or any police officer can seize an animal found running at large and confine it in a pound designated by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. A known owner is notified in person, by telephone or by postcard, and when the owner is unknown a notice describing the animal is posted in at least three public places. The notice states that the animal must be claimed within five days by paying the pound costs, or it will be humanely destroyed or sold, and the pound keeper collects a reasonable fee for impoundment and maintenance.

Other Chapter 1 duties apply to cats kept in the city: adequate food, water, shelter and ventilation under § 10-104, no keeping in a condition that becomes a nuisance because of noise, odor, contagious disease or other reason under § 10-105, and no unnecessary beating or abuse under § 10-106. The word feral does not appear anywhere in the code, and the tag and rabies registration sections, §§ 10-201 and 10-202, name dogs only. Ord. 13-30, passed 12-16-2013, appears in the history of these sections.