Tucson, AZ Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Section 4-12 governs how the city disposes of forfeited, abandoned or unclaimed animals, including cats. One authorized path under subsection (a)(3) is transferring the animal to an incorporated humane society or nonprofit animal-welfare organization, which may then place it for adoption after sterilization, humanely destroy it, or release it as part of a community cat program. Subsection (c) defines that program precisely: healthy, free-roaming cats are humanely trapped or captured, sterilized, vaccinated against rabies, ear-tipped, and returned to the location where they were found, rather than being held for adoption or destroyed.

Subsection (b) puts real teeth behind the receiving organization's obligations, the city enforcement agent must verify the organization is actively engaged in animal welfare, doesn't breed animals or release unsterilized ones, releases cats only through the community cat program or adoption after sterilization, and complies with this chapter. The city can conduct announced and unannounced inspections of that organization's facilities and records, and can repossess animals from any group found out of compliance, including any organization whose personnel violate an animal cruelty law. There is no separate Tucson cat-licensing requirement in Chapter 4; the community cat framework is specifically about disposition of impounded or surrendered cats, not a mandate for owned pets.