Cats are now included in Cañon City’s animal cruelty ordinances

CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) – Cañon City leaders are strengthening local laws to better protect cats from cruelty and neglect.

At a meeting on July 21, the Cañon City Council approved a municipal ordinance making it officially illegal to abuse, neglect or abandon cats within city limits. The ordinance, passed on second reading, outlines what constitutes cruelty against cats and sets the stage for enforcement beginning next month.

The law makes it illegal for any person in Cañon City to "knowingly, recklessly, or negligently torment, torture, needlessly mutilate, needlessly kill, deprive of necessary sustenance, unnecessarily or cruelly beat" a cat, the Cañon City Police Department (CCPD) said.

The ordinance further prohibits housing a cat in conditions that could reasonably lead to physical harm, and outlaws abandoning a cat within city limits.

The law also addresses neglect – making it unlawful to withhold proper food, water, or shelter from a cat in one’s care – and makes it illegal to poison or attempt to poison a cat.

If authorities have reasonable suspicion that a cat is being abused or neglected, Community Services Officers (Animal Control) may seize the animal and have it impounded at the Humane Society, CCPD said.

Full enforcement of the new ordinance begins on Sept. 17.

CCPD said residents with questions or wanting more information on the law are encouraged to contact the Community Services Unit at (719) 276-5600 and choose option #3.

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