Bartow County, GA Animal Ordinances: Mandatory Spay/Neuter (2026)

Bartow County Code § 14-87 requires that 'every sexually mature dog or cat placed for adoption by the animal shelter or a humane society shall be sterilized by a licensed veterinarian within 30 days of the adoption,' with the shelter or humane society folding the sterilization cost into its adoption fee under subsection (b). Because many shelter animals are not yet sterile at pickup, subsection (c) requires every adopter to sign a written agreement at the time of adoption guaranteeing sterilization within 30 days of acquiring an adult animal, or within 30 days after an immature animal reaches sexual maturity.

Subsection (d) requires the adopter to return a signed statement from the performing veterinarian within seven days after the surgery, confirming it happened. To help adopters comply, subsection (e) obligates the shelter or humane society to keep and hand out a current list of veterinarians willing to perform the sterilization and what they charge. The requirement is limited to animals that pass through the county shelter or a humane society; it does not reach dogs and cats acquired from breeders, private owners, or pet stores, and it is separate from § 14-18's cap of one litter per household per year on non-agriculturally zoned property. Community cats processed through a trap-neuter-vaccinate-return program are handled under the separate § 14-44 community-cat provisions rather than this adoption-sterilization rule.