Los Angeles May End Cat Crackdown

You may not currently be aware of this fact, but it is actually illegal to keep more than three cats in a Los Angeles home. It seems like a strange law, who wouldn’t want as many little furry piles of love as they can get! Snuggles all around! The law, when it was originally passed, was aimed at preventing animal hoarding.

The Current Battle

Proponents for an increase in the cat cap are not asking for anything too crazy, they would just like to see the limit placed on cat ownership raised to five. The first step in getting the law changed was to bring it to the Los Angeles City Council Animal Welfare Committee. Luckily for the cat lovers out there, the committee has already approved of the change! The next step is to bring the measure to a full City Council vote. The measure has already received support from the city’s Department of Animal Services.

Battles Past

This is not the first time the city of Los Angeles has fought for kitty freedom. In 2014, a similar proposal was brought to the City Council. The former proposal was different in one minor, little way. It proposed pet owners should be allowed to have an unlimited number of cats. It was struck down for fear of possible environmental side effects, stating that at a minimum, an environmental review would be necessary before such a measure could be passed.

Where Freedom Reigns

Not every city in California has such strict feline regulations. San Diego and Santa Monica each take a relatively relaxed approach when it comes to cat population restrictions. Proponents for the new measure use these thriving cities as examples of places where large cat populations and homeowners can get along. “Based on evidence supplied by San Diego and Santa Monica, the Department believes that a limited raising of the cat limit would not lead to increased hoarding and would allow the City to adopt out or place more cats in temporary foster care to save cats’ lives due to space constraints in shelters or rescues,” stated Brenda Barnette of the Department of Animal Services.