If you are seeing cats outside, try to determine if they have been through the TNvR process (see "What is TNvR" below). A tipped ear would be indicative of this.
If the cat(s) is not already ear tipped your options are:
1) Is the cat friendly? Does it appear to be someone’s lost pet. If yes, please confine and contact Animal Care & Control (410) 222-8900
a. Anne Arundel County Animal Care & Control can loan you a trap to capture it if it can be safely and easily confined without a trap
b. Anne Arundel County requires all stray animals be surrendered to Animal Care & Control
2) If it doesn’t appear to be a lost cat - See The SAVE Cats Community Program flier for information on getting involved in the SAVE Cats Community Cat program to provide TNvR services to the cat(s) to prevent reproducing and vaccinate the animal against rabies.
3) If it doesn’t appear to be a lost cat and you are not interested in TNvR, you can borrow a Humane Trap from Animal Care & Control to trap the animal and turn it over to the us.
Anne Arundel County cannot adopt out cats that are not friendly, but a community cat caregiver can pick up unadoptable cats to put them through the TNvR process and make them community cats.
4) If the cat is ear tipped the cat is a Community Cat and unless the cat is injured, sick or aggressive no action is needed.
This acronym stands for Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return. In Anne Arundel County this process is now, as of February 20, 2018, a legally recognized option for addressing the overpopulation of cats outdoors. The goal of the process is to reduce the number of cats roaming freely outdoors by the process of preventing reproduction and allowing attrition of the cat population over time. Cats that have already been through the TNvR process will be ear tipped, this makes them Community Cats, indicates they are spayed/neutered and have been vaccinated at least once against rabies. Community Cats are generally protected from impoundment in Anne Arundel County.
Effective February 20, 2018 per County Code an ear tipped is recognized as a Community Cat which is a cat 12 weeks of age or older that has been TNvR’d (see question above). These cats are not owned but receive care, including food/water/medical care by Community Cat Caregivers. These cats cannot reproduce. These cats are not considered in violation of Anne Arundel County Code for their mere presence. These cats are generally exempt from impoundment.
If you do not want ear tipped cats on your property consider humane deterrents such as CatStop (an ultrasonic deterrent) or Scarecrow (a motion activated sprinkler). If an ear tipped cat is sick/injured or acting in an aggressive manner contact Animal Control (410) 222-8900. If you are chronically bothered by an ear tip cat be prepared to take date/time stamped pictures to prove its repeated offenses to Animal Control before attempting to trap the cat.
Anne Arundel County only allows for trapping of non-wildlife animals in violation of Anne Arundel County laws. Community cats, by their mere presence, are not in violation of Anne Arundel County laws (see "There is an ear tipped cat in my community; what does that mean?")
All owned cats and dogs above the age of 6 months, in Anne Arundel County, are required by law to be licensed. Community Cats are not considered owned animals and are not required to be licensed. However, Community Cat Caregivers are encouraged to microchip community cats for identification and verification of rabies purposes.
It is illegal to mutilate, torture, cruelly beat or cruelly kill an animal.