Westfield, IN Animal Ordinances: Cat Rules (2026)

Section 10-8 of the Westfield City Code sets out the city's entire framework for managing feral cats, built around mandatory colony registration rather than a general cat-licensing scheme. Subsection (a) lets the city establish a fund or assistance program to offset trapping, neutering and vaccinating feral cats returned to a controlled, registered colony site. Subsection (b) requires each feral cat colony to be registered with Low Cost Spay Neuter Clinic, Inc., which keeps current and historical caregiver records, and subsection (c) conditions any approved assistance program on the consent of the home owner or neighborhood association where the colony sits.

Subsection (d) makes it unlawful to provide food, water or shelter to a feral cat colony unless it is an approved managed colony registered with the clinic, the feeding is done as part of trap-neuter-return, and the caregiver ear-tips cats to mark them as sterilized, vaccinated members of the colony. Subsection (e) obligates a registered caretaker to trap and sterilize every cat that can be captured, vaccinate against rabies and other required diseases, have a veterinarian evaluate trapped cats, release non-feral cats to animal control or the humane society, and attempt to remove kittens by eight weeks of age and any sick or injured cat for care or humane euthanasia.

Subsection (f) requires caretakers to keep sterilization, vaccination and medical records available to the Humane Society, the clinic, or law enforcement on request. Subsection (g) lets law enforcement impound cats found in violation, though an ear-tipped cat from a managed colony may be returned at the officer's discretion. Subsection (h) requires a written warning and a compliance period before a violation is charged; a person violating the section may be fined up to $500.00 per occurrence and a noncompliant caretaker loses caretaker privileges.