A ‘Purr-fectly’ Unenforceable Law

The city of Santa Ana sometimes appears to be preoccupied with occupancy limits. First it cracked down on the number of people who could live in a home. Now it is going after cats.

The council Monday is scheduled to make it illegal to own more than three cats.

The law ostensibly is aimed at people who own dozens of cats, a relatively rare situation that could better be dealt with under health and safety laws. But the law the council is considering will affect anyone with more than three cats because it contains no “grandfather clause” exempting existing ownership.

What will happen to the excess pets? And how will the city ever enforce such an unenforceable statute?

It is often argued that nobody really owns a cat and that, if there is ownership involved, cats own people. The council would have about as much chance of success if it rewrote its ordinance to limit the number of people that a cat can own.