Bensalem, PA Animal Ordinances: Mandatory Spay/Neuter (2026)

Section 80-20, part of the Chapter 80 cat article adopted by Ordinance No. 2022-05 on August 22, 2022, sets three conditions an owner or keeper must meet before letting a cat outside the residence at all: the cat must be neutered or spayed to prevent procreation, immunized against rabies, and identified as belonging to its owner or keeper, either by a collar and tag or by an implanted microchip. Failing any one of the three makes it unlawful to let the cat run free outside the home.

Subsection (b) then goes further for every cat regardless of sterilization: it is unlawful at any time to let a cat run free off the owner's or keeper's own real property, so a spayed, vaccinated, identified cat still cannot roam beyond the owner's lot line under this section. The definitions in Section 80-18 tie into enforcement: a 'stray cat' is any cat an owner or keeper allows to run free outside the residence from time to time, distinct from a 'feral cat,' a homeless or untamed animal with no owner.

Section 80-22 sets the penalty for violating any provision of the cat article, including the spay/neuter, vaccination and identification conditions in Section 80-20: a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $500 plus costs, imposed by a Magisterial District Judge under the summary-offense procedure of the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, with up to 90 days' imprisonment if the fine and costs go unpaid, and each day or each violated section treated as a separate offense.