West Palm Beach, FL Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

" The prohibition is deliberately narrow. It does not ban letting a healthy cat roam at large the way chapter 14, article II bans it for dogs; the violation requires both that the owner knows the cat is diseased or unhealthy and that the owner permits it to run at large despite that knowledge. There is no separate city cat-licensing requirement, no feral-colony registration scheme, and no numeric limit on how many cats a household may keep in the general provisions of chapter 14. Section 14-4 traces to Code 1979, § 6-5, and sits in article I alongside the livestock ban and the bird sanctuary sections, immediately before article II opens with the dog-specific leash and at-large rules.

An editor's note at the head of the dog article points to Laws of Florida, ch. 69-1432, which requires rabies vaccination of all dogs and cats in Palm Beach County, so a West Palm Beach cat owner's vaccination obligation comes from that state law rather than from a city rule. 00 or imprisonment not exceeding 60 days, with each day of a continuing violation a separate offense.