A town in Massachusetts has now made it illegal to own over 3 cats unless you purchase a "kennel license". The fine if you don't - $100 a day!

Owning 4+ cats requires a license

I had four cats for a while, it never would have occurred to me to get a license to do so!

What do you think? Apparently this woman was rescuing strays that other people were abandoning.

I can see both sides of this issue. If one can prove their pets are neutered, then it shouldn't be problem.

I know people who have litter after litter who are not breeders - just people who have not gotten around to spaying their cats.

(what does one call a female cat - is there a term, like with b!cthes for dogs? Isn't a male called a Tom?)


Pets just absolutely need to be neutered unless you are a registered breeder. There are too many homeless, suffering animals out there - a lot of it could be prevented.

female is a molly or queen and yes the male cat is a tom.

Yes I would agree if someone has for example 80 cats in their house and they are diseased and not being fed then it's time to get those cats somewhere more healthy.

I still think it's tricky. I am supposed to have all my pets registered each year. Isn't this rather the same thing? I also have to have each pet have rabies shots up to date, by law.

I do hope to be able to run a rescue for abandoned animals when i reach retirement age. But you bet I will follow all the laws laid out by my county. Otherwise you walk the line of 'hoarding' and that gets ugly on many levels - actual, neighborhood, community, political.

I don't like being told what to do, so one of the ways I have found to not have people get in my business is to keep my nose clean.

That said, four cats is not many. But. One cat is too many if unspayed and allowed to keep dropping litters.

I think targeting the amount of cats - esp in such small numbers - is less important than ensuring pets are neutered and controlled.

One last thing: at this trailer park there are about 20 feral cats. The first thing I asked when I moved here was if there was a group to perform catch-spay-release. I was gratified that a program was already in effect for this location.

That might be a difference between the west and the east, then. In the west are you saying cats need licenses? In this area only dogs need licenses. Cats generally don't need to be licensed. They do need a current rabies shot, but that's it.