Waco, TX Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Section 5-92(a) makes it unlawful for an owner or keeper to allow any animal to be at large within the city, and subsection (c) defines at large as not being under control by leash, chain, cord, or fence, including an animal in a parked vehicle that could exit on its own. Subsection (b) then lists the cat-specific exemptions from that prohibition: a cat vaccinated as required by the chapter and wearing its vaccination tag; a cat identifiable as having an owner or caregiver through a collar and tags, microchip, identifying tattoo, or a left ear tip showing it went through trap-neuter-return; or a free-roaming cat whose owner or caregiver can produce documentation of its sterilization.

Subsection (d) gives ACOs authority to impound any animal found at large on public or private property, and if an ACO sees an animal return to its own owner's property, the officer can still impound it or issue a citation. Subsection (e) shifts the burden once a citation issues: proof the animal was found at large, plus proof the defendant owned it at the time, is prima facie evidence the defendant allowed it to roam. Section 5-101(c)-(d) reinforces the TNR policy by stating that releasing a community cat or ear-tipped cat back into the area where it is fed and monitored is not abandonment, and that ACOs must return such cats to the location where they were found.