§ 5-28. Feral cats and feral cat colonies.

(a)

It is unlawful for any person to intentionally provide food, water, or other forms of sustenance or care to a feral cat unless the person has registered the feral cat as provided herein or the feral cat has been eartipped as required by the TNR program or the person intends to humanely trap the feral cat in compliance with the TNR program.

(b)

City Trap-Neuter-Return/TNR program. The city recognizes the need for innovation in addressing the issues presented by feral and other free-roaming cats. To that end it recognizes that there are feral cat caregivers, and acknowledges that properly managed feral cats may be part of the solution to the continuing euthanasia of cats. The city establishes the following requirements:

(1)

Trap-Neuter-Return shall be permitted, and feral cat caregivers, organizations, and animal control are allowed to carry out TNR.

(2)

All feral cats that are part of the TNR program must be trapped humanely in a manner that does not harm the animal, sterilized, vaccinated against rabies, preferably with a three (3) year vaccination, vaccinated against any other infectious disease as mandated by law, ear-tipped and then returned to its place of capture. If these requirements are met the cat is exempted from licensing, stray, at-large and possibly other provisions of this chapter that apply to owned animals.

(3)

Feral cat caregivers are required to provide proper nutrition and medical care as needed to feral cats under their care. If medical care is unavailable or too expensive, the caregiver must not allow the cat to suffer. Food must be provided in the proper quantity for the number of cats being managed and is to be supplied no less than once per day. Food must be maintained in appropriate feeding containers placed out only during the hours between sunrise and two (2) hours after sunrise and/or between two (2) hours before sunset and sunset. Water supplied to feral cats must be clean, potable and free from debris and algae.

(4)

Any feral cat caregiver determined to be in violation of subsection (b)(2) and/or (b)(3) shall be issued a written warning and allowed a period of time to come into compliance, or provide satisfactory evidence of working to achieve compliance. That period of time shall not exceed ninety (90) days from issuance of the initial warning notice. Failure to comply shall result in a violation of this article, which may result in a citation.

(5)

An eartipped feral cat received by animal services or local shelters will be returned to the location where trapped unless veterinary care is required. An eartipped cat trapped by animal services will be released on site unless veterinary care is required.

(c)

Sunset of certain provisions. The amendments made herein this section shall be automatically repealed twelve (12) months after the effective date of the ordinance from which this section is derived unless the city commission, by affirmative majority vote, votes to continue such provisions in effect.

(Ord. No. 2009-11, § 2, 6-25-09; Ord. No. 2014-09, §§ 5, 6, 4-24-14)

Editor's note

Ord. No. 2014-09, § 6, adopted April 24, 2014, was not specifically amendatory. At the editor's discretion, those provisions were included as subsection 5-128(c).