West Des Moines, IA Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

West Des Moines City Code section 5-3-20 governs community cats, meaning free-roaming cats cared for by area residents under a Trap-Neuter-Return program. A captured community cat must be returned to where it was found unless it is sick or injured, or the property owner asked for its removal and the Public Services Director or designee declared it a nuisance. A cat declared a nuisance is captured and loses eligibility to continue in the Trap-Neuter-Return program. Feeding community cats is prohibited within 200 feet of city property or school district property, and the city carries no liability for a community cat or its disposition.

Separately, section 5-2-34 bars any person with ownership or custody of a cat or dog from abandoning it, except by delivering it to another person willing to accept it or to an animal shelter or pound, with abandonment a simple misdemeanor; returning a community cat to its capture location during Trap-Neuter-Return is not treated as abandonment. Under chapter 3A, section 5-3A-1, the owner of any dog or cat six months or older must obtain an annual city license, and it is unlawful to keep an unlicensed dog or cat in the city; applications go to the city clerk by April 30 each year and must state the cat's breed, sex, age, color, and markings.