Montebello, CA Animal Ordinances: Mandatory Spay/Neuter (2026)

Montebello Municipal Code Section 6.16.010 bars the city animal shelter, run by the department of animal care and control, from selling or giving away any female cat over six months old that has not been spayed or any male cat over six months old that has not been neutered. For kittens under six months, the shelter may release the animal only after the adopter deposits the cost of spaying or altering in trust with the director, payable to a veterinarian or spay/neuter clinic the adopter designates; the deposit is refunded once the owner proves the cat was sterilized.

This is a shelter-adoption mandate rather than a blanket requirement that every cat owner in the city sterilize a pet already in their possession; Montebello has not enacted a citywide mandatory spay/neuter law reaching all resident-owned cats outside the shelter pipeline. The city separately operates its own low-cost option: Section 6.12.060 authorizes the director of animal care and control to run a spay and neuter clinic where members of the public may have dogs and cats sterilized for a fee set by the director, with animals not picked up within 15 days of the scheduled return date deemed abandoned. Both programs sit under Title 6, Animals, enforced by the department of animal care and control, which SEAACA operates for the city under contract.