Citrus County, FL Animal Ordinances: Mandatory Spay/Neuter (2026)

The board adopted Sec. 14-65 to curb the unintended and uncontrolled breeding of cats, citing the strain unwanted cats and kittens put on the community through stray populations, impoundment costs and euthanasia. The baseline rule in subsection (b)(1) is blunt: every cat four months of age or older in the county must be spayed or neutered. Five exemptions cover the exceptions. A cat registered with a national or international club and certified in writing as being used, trained or considered for a show, sporting competition or similar event can stay intact.

A cat a licensed veterinarian certifies in writing as medically unfit for the procedure, because of age or another condition that would be substantially aggravated by surgery, can be exempted, though the owner still pays the sterilized-tier license fee and must comply once the condition clears. An owner can instead purchase an unsterilized license and microchip the cat, but that license is forfeited and the cat sterilized anyway if it is trapped at large and impounded more than once. Licensed hobby or commercial breeders keeping a cat registered as a pedigreed animal with the Cat Fanciers' Association or the International Cat Association are exempt for breeding purposes.

Shelters, humane societies and nonprofit rescues are exempt as long as any cat they place for adoption is sterilized first. The mandate pairs with Sec. 14-58, which separately bars letting any unsterilized cat three months or older outdoors at all, and with the general registration and tag rules of Sec. 14-33.