L.A. may boost cat limit from 3 to 5
Here kitty, kitty, kitty ... kitty, kitty.
Ever want to snuggle on your living room couch with five cats instead of three?
Well, soon you may be able to do that in the city of Los Angeles — legally.
The city’s Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee on Wednesday unanimously backed a proposal to raise the cat limit per household from three to five cats. The next step is for the L.A. City Council to vote on the proposal.
City officials are pushing the change in city code in hopes of getting people to adopt more cats and help reduce the number of felines being euthanized. It’s currently illegal to own more than three cats without a kennel permit.
Under the proposal, if a person owns one to three cats, the cats may be indoor or outdoor felines. However, if the number exceeds three felines, all the cats would have to be maintained solely indoors.
“The department believes that this change will allow city residents who are willing and able to house and care for more cats to be able to bring them into their homes in compliance with the law,” Dana Brown, assistant general manager for the Department of Animal Services, told the committee.
Brown said the “modest increase” would probably result in the increased placement of shelter animals, which would thereby raise their likelihood of not being euthanized.
“We determined that a small increase would allow more cats’ lives to be saved in the community,” Brown told committee members.
The proposal would help save cats that are at risk in city shelters because of limited space, said Brenda Barnette, general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services.
“What we’re talking about is asking for the opportunity for people who love cats and who care about cats and who want cats to have two more cats in their home, which will also help us,” Barnette said Wednesday. “If some good law-abiding citizens want two more indoor cats, making a total of five, I think we should let them do it.”
A few speakers expressed concerns over the possible increase — saying it could encourage hoarding and nuisance issues.
“While we do respect the idea of saving these pets from euthanization ... our current position is that this be restricted to singlefamily homeowners,” said Jim Clarke, executive vice president of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles. “Multiunit buildings in close quarters could present a problem with regard to quiet enjoyment of other tenants.”