Feral Cat Legal Issues

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Brief Summary of Feral Cat Legal Issues
David Fry (2009)

 

When a person sees a malnourished kitten roaming her neighborhood, her first instinct is often to stop and help.   In doing so, it is unlikely that the individual will carefully consider the legal consequences of her actions before giving the cat food and water or bringing it into her garage to give it shelter from the cold.   Will the kindhearted bystander wonder whether feeding the cat will cause her to become the cat’s legal owner?   Will she consider the possible rights and responsibilities that might arise from her caretaking?

The answers to these questions can vary widely depending on where the individual lives.   Although some state and local governments have enacted laws attempting to resolve some of these issues, most states and municipalities do not have any laws governing the care and ownership of feral cats.   In places where there are no feral cat laws, a cat owner is only responsible for damages caused by the cat if she owed the injured person a legal duty of care to prevent the damage from occurring, she breached that duty, and the breach was the cause of the injured person's damages.

What does it mean to “own” a feral cat?   A person typically owns an animal when she has possession over it.   The problem, however, is that people do not generally “possess” a feral cat in the same way that they would possess a dairy cow, a housecat, or a parrot.   They typically do not care where the feral cat spends most of its time, they rarely try to confine it, and their interaction is generally limited to providing the animal with food and water.   This decreased level of control makes it difficult to determine how feral cat ownership should be determined in states and municipalities that do not have feral cat laws.

Only thirteen states and the District of Columbia have any laws that even mention feral cats (California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Nebraska, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, and Vermont).   Generally, the state laws that do address these issues simply (1) define feral cats and (2) enable local governments to adopt their own solutions   The result of this approach, though, is that the law of feral cats can, and often does, vary drastically within the same state.   (For further information on specific state laws, see the Detailed Discussion  on this topic).

In the absence of a state or local feral cat law, courts and juries may not be willing to assign rights or responsibilities to feral cat caretakers.   It is possible, then, that individuals who care for feral cats in these places would not be required to comply with any of the requirements imposed on animal owners, nor would they be responsible for any damages caused by the animals’ behavior.   Further, feral cat caretakers in these jurisdictions may have a difficult time protecting feral cat colonies from animal control agencies and the actions of private citizens (because caretakers are not owners, they would likely not have the right to prevent other people from relocating feral cat colonies or impounding the feral cats).  

Feral cats do not fit neatly within the common law categories of animal ownership.   The first problem is the question of whether feral cats are wild or domestic animals.   Feral domestic cats would almost certainly not be considered wild animals, since domestic cats have, by definition, been generally domesticated and are generally unlikely to cause personal injury.   However, it is possible that individual members of a domestic species could be considered wild if those individual animals have not been domesticated.   So while feral cats are part of a domesticated species, it is possible that a court might find that specific feral cats qualify as wild animals, which would subject their owners and keepers to different requirements than owners and keepers of domestic cats.

In light of this difficulty, the most rational way to determine ownership of feral cats is to look at the extent to which a particular keeper or caretaker has exercised control over a feral cat and then impose responsibilities on the caretaker in a way that reflects that level of ownership.   If a keeper or caretaker has given a feral cat food and water every day for several years and has provided the animal with periodic veterinary care, that person is more likely to be viewed as an owner than a person who has merely fed a feral cat once a day for six months.   This sliding scale would allow courts to hold caretakers responsible for their actions when those caretakers are actively involved in caring for feral cats, but it would also encourage people to care for feral cats on a casual basis without having to fear .

In states that have not addressed feral cats in their laws, to what extent can a caretaker be held responsible for damages caused by feral cats?   The answer to this question is likely to depend on the degree of control that the individual exercises over the cats.   In places where keepers or caretakers of feral cats are considered “owners,” it is quite possible that a feral cat caretaker could be held responsible for damage caused by feral cats.   The few cases that have addressed this issue look closely at evidence of ownership to determine the extent to which a keeper or caretaker should be held responsible.   Further, when damage to property or persons is reasonably foreseeable (i.e., the caretaker knew or should have known that the feral cat was likely to damage property or injure people), a court could impose civil liability (money damages) on keepers and caretakers for failing to control the feral cats in their care.

In addition to civil liability, keepers and caretakers may also face criminal charges in some circumstances.   Determining when a feral cat caretaker may be criminally liable is a complex issue that has not been extensively addressed.   One commentator who has analyzed the issue in Texas raised the possibility that an individual who cares for a feral cat could be held criminally liable for abandonment or neglect if that individual ceased to provide the cat with food and water or failed to pay for the cat’s necessary medical treatment.

Similarly, some states classify feral cat caretakers as “owners” and further require owners to spay and neuter their pets or immunize them against rabies.   Thus, feral cat caretakers could be subjected to the same fines and citations as other animal owners if they fail to comply with these laws.

In most places, courts will have no guidance other than common law for dealing with feral cat issues.   A person who feeds feral cats outside of her office building every morning might not be subjected to liability at all, whereas a person who provides shelter, food, water, and veterinary services for a group of feral cats would be more likely to be liable for the actions of those animals.   Ideally, more state and local legislatures should begin to address this complex and convoluted area of law.   Keepers and caretakers provide a valuable service, and the law should not discourage these individuals from caring for animals in need.

 

Biological Overview of the Domestic Cat
Tony LaCroix (2006)

Felis silvestris catus is the scientific name for the domestic, or house cat, whose closest relative is the species Felis silvestris lybica , the African Wild Cat. Cats were first domesticated in Egypt about 4,000 years ago, see Pamela Jo Hatley, Feral Cat Colonies in Florida: The Fur and Feathers are Flying , 18 J. Land Use & Envtl. L. 441, 442 (2003), where they were highly regarded because they ate rats which ate supplies of grain. Cats often form wild colonies, in which they communicate with each other by use of up to one hundred different vocalizations, including purring, hissing, and clicking. http://www.channel3000.com/news/1472741/detail.html .

The domestic cat covers a wide geographical range, from Antarctica to urban cities as well as temperate farmlands, and is the most popular pet animal in America. Shawn Gorman & Julie Levy, A Public Policy Toward Management of Feral Cats , 2 Pierce L. Rev. 157, 157 (2004). Cats in captivity typically live from fourteen to twenty years, while the oldest known cat lived to the age of 36. http://www.pawsonline.info/feline_statistics.htm . Cats live longer if not permitted to go outdoors, where they are more prone to catch disease or become injured in a fight, and if they are spayed or neutered, thus eliminating the possibility of testicular or ovarian cancer, and reducing the risk of mammary cancer. http://cats.about.com/od/reproduction/a/spay_neuter.htm .

Cats are athletic animals, which can reach running speeds of up to thirty miles per hour for short distances. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat#_ref-6 . They have incredible vertical jump capabilities, able to clear a seven-foot fence from a stationary position. Id. They are also unique in that they do not have rigid collar bones, allowing them to pass through openings the size of their head. http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/content/shared/living/pets/scoop/scoop_061206.html .  

Although treasured as companions in ancient Egypt as well as in the modern Western World, this is not the case in other areas, where cats are considered to be food, and treated much as are chickens and cattle in America. http://www.messybeast.com/eat-cats.htm .  

 

Related articles

Animals v. Animals: A False Choice, Wendy Anderson and Amy Vaniotis, ABA Animal Law Committee Newsletter ( Spring 2008).

Don't Feed the Animals: Queso's Law and How the Texas Legislature Abandoned Stray Animals, A Comment on H.B.2328 and the New Tex. Penal Code § 42.092, Jeremy Masten, 60 Baylor L. Rev. 964 (Fall 2008).

A Public Policy Toward the Management of Feral Cats, by Shawn Gorman and Julie Levy, 2 Pierce L. Rev. 157 (June 2004).

Feral Cat Colonies in Florida: The Fur and Feathers Are Flying, Pamela Jo Hatley, 18 J. Land Use & Envtl. L. 441 (2003).

 

Related cases

Baker v. Middleton (2007)  - An Indiana superior court ruled that feral cat colony caregivers are not liable for property damages caused by the cats. In this case, the plaintiff was a homeowner who suffered almost $2000 worth of property damage from the feral cats. The court was persuaded by recent evidence that debunks the myth that not feeding a colony will cause it to go away.

Table of Cases Related to Cats, Generally

 

Related laws

Connecticut: Section 22-339d. Municipal Control of Feral Cats. This permits municipalities to adopt ordinances requiring registration of feral cat "keepers," defined as anyone who harbors or regularly feeds a feral cat.   If a municipality enacts such an ordinance, the ordinance must require the keeper to sterilize the cat and have it vaccinated against rabies.  The statute also enables municipalities to adopt ordinances holding cat owners and keepers responsible if their cats cause significant property damage or severe health violations.

Rhode Island: Chapter 24. Permit Program for Cats. Under this law, cats are required to display some form of identification (tag, tattoo, etc.) in an effort to reduce the feral/stray cat problem.  The law reduces the retention period for cats impounded without some form of identification.

 

Related Links

 

Web Center Links:

Feral Cat Population Issues Topic Area

Cat Laws Topic Area

External Links:

For further information on the lives of feral cats, visit Alley Cat Allies page - http://www.alleycat.org/FeralCat

For more on the negative effects to wildlife caused by feral cats see http://www.abcbirds.org/cats

 

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