Pawtucket, RI Animal Ordinances: Mandatory Spay/Neuter (2026)

Pawtucket City Code § 116-47, enacted January 12, 2006 by Ch. No. 2796 and rewritten in its entirety on October 26, 2006 by Ch. No. 2831, bars owning or harboring any cat over six months old within the city unless it has been spayed or neutered. The only way around the mandate is an "intact" permit issued by the Animal Control Officer, and the ordinance limits who qualifies: a medical or health exemption, a cat the owner certifies as a purebred show cat, or an unaltered cat whose owner signs a written statement it will not be allowed to breed.

The permit isn't free except for the medical exemption: § 116-47B sets an annual fee of $100 per cat, deposited into the city's spay/neuter accounts. I. Gen. Laws Chapter 4-19; a revocation requires written notice and an informal hearing held no sooner than five days after the notice is mailed. A violator gets 30 days to have the cat altered or to show proof from a licensed veterinarian that surgery is arranged; missing that window triggers a $75 fine for each additional 30-day period the cat stays intact, under § 116-52.

Fines collected under §§ 116-47 and 116-52 don't just go to the general fund: § 116-53 requires half be reserved for a low-cost spay/neuter program for owners on qualifying public assistance, including food stamps, SSI or TANF, with the remainder funding spay/neuter services for shelter animals.