You can’t tell people to 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗣 feeding cats and then claim they 𝗢𝗪𝗡 those same cats because they fed them.
Feeding cats is 𝗡𝗢𝗧 illegal under the Polk County Code.
A few cities—Fort Meade, Davenport, Mulberry, Winter Haven, and Polk City—have ordinances stating that feeding a stray for 3–7 days may establish ownership. Even those ordinances do 𝗡𝗢𝗧 prohibit feeding.
Yet Animal Control appears to be applying that ownership theory in Lakeland, Bartow, Haines City, Auburndale, Frostproof, and other cities where no such ordinance exists.
Then the logic falls apart:
Polk County defines feral cats as untamed and unable to be handled. So how can a caregiver have the “control or custody” required to be an owner?
Section 7’s roaming rule applies only to 𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗗 cats—not ear-tipped, sterilized colony cats.
If five neighbors feed the same colony, who’s the owner? Whoever Animal Control decides to cite?
If Animal Control claims caregivers own cats because they feed them, it cannot then order those same caregivers to stop feeding them. Florida Statute § 828.12 provides that intentionally depriving an animal of necessary sustenance can constitute animal cruelty.
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀.
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
Has this happened to you? Comment below—and share this before someone else gets a bogus citation.