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Cats

While cats are not generally a public safety or health issue, Mesa County realizes that unconfined cats can be a nuisance. Therefore, we have looked beyond enforcement for solutions that are available within our community to assist residents who are struggling with neighborhood felines. Here are some options to assist with neighborhood cat issues.

The Mesa County Lost and found pet website can be viewed to find a lost cat.  A trip to the shelter is also recommended if a pet cannot be located on the website.

  • Spay/Neuter: Mesa County encourages sterilization of cats as an important component of responsible pet ownership. To encourage and support the goal of addressing pet overpopulation, Project PUPs was developed. This voucher program subsidizes the cost of procedure to encourage pet owners to sterilize their pets. It is our belief that a strong spay/neuter program can reduce the number of displaced pets in the future, thus ultimately saving pet’s lives and taxpayer dollars.
     
  • Displaced Cats: Mesa County refers owners needing to find new homes for cats to our adoption partners. Because we are not an adoption agency, we believe that a pet owner should communicate directly with the adoption agency in order to assist in finding the best placement for their cat. By being directly involved in the process of finding their pet a new home, they will have a better appreciation of the wonderful work these non-profit animal rescues provide for our community and our cats.
     
  • For humanitarian reasons, we will accept or pick up cats when the owner is unknown, the cat is sick, injured or cannot fend for itself.
  • Civil Court: A citizen can file a civil case against cat owners who have cats that have damaged their property. You can contact Mesa County Courts at (970) 257-3640 for information about this process.
  • Code Enforcement: The City of Grand Junction and Mesa County do have restrictions on the number of pets allowed at a residence. If pet owners exceed the number of pets allowed, you can file a complaint with the code enforcement division. You can reach Grand Junction Code Enforcement and Mesa County Code Enforcement at (970) 244-1593 and County Code Enforcement at (970) 255-5034.
     
  • Any property owner or resident of a property that determines a cat living on their property is feral and should be removed, there are private nuisance animal removal companies for this service.