Animal Control

The city's Animal Control Division consists of one Animal Control Officer. It is department policy to manage animal control issues in a humane manner, balancing the needs of animals with the safety and welfare of the community.

Duties of the Animal Control Officer include:

1. Random patrol of city of stray animals or animals at large. Detains same and attempts to reunite with owners if possible. Transports to pound if no owners found.
2. Responds to animal complaints (menacing, bites, wild animal incursions). Takes appropriate action as needed.
3. Care for animals detained in pound to include feeding, watering, exercising, and administering medicine or other treatments as needed.

The Bellaire Pound is a facility for the short-term impoundment of dogs found running at large. The pound houses animals for up to three days to allow animals to be reunited with their owners. If the animal is not redeemed after three days, the department works to place the animal with local shelters or rescue organizations so they may be put up for adoption. Though not a desired outcome, the department may euthanize animals for aggression and for untreatable and/or contagious illnesses.

Click here for a listing of animals currently in the Bellaire Pound. 

Contact the Bellaire Pound through the Bellaire Police Department at 713.668.0487. 

Fees (Effective October 1, 2023)

• Recovery & Unification Fee: $55.00

Community Cats

“Community cats” are cats who live outdoors in a community and are cared for by one or more people who feed them and who may provide some form of shelter and/or medical care when needed. These caretakers don’t usually consider the cats to be owned, or they may consider the cats to be loosely owned but different from cats they keep in their home. Community cats may live alone or in pairs or congregate in larger colonies that grow quickly if the cats are not spayed and neutered.

While these cats are often referred to as “feral”—which means having escaped from domestication and returned to a wild state—the majority rely on humans for support. Their behavior may range from fearful and unsocialized to friendly and open to human interaction. Many of these cats, especially the social ones, are considered to be “at home” by residents in the area they live.

The following strategies are recommended to help eradicate community cats:

• Remove food sources.
• Use natural sprays/deterrents
• Use water sprinklers
• Remove shelter areas
• Create discomfort with plantings

Residents are cautioned not to feed or provide water for community cats. Doing so is a violation of City of Bellaire Code of Ordinances Section 6-45 as cited below:

Sec. 6-45. - Feeding of cats prohibited in certain areas.

(a)Feeding of cats on public property. It shall be unlawful for any person to feed, whether by leaving food for or otherwise, any cat on public property, including without limitation, on any property owned in fee simple or controlled by the city as an easement or public right-of-way.

(b)Feeding of cats on private property. It shall be unlawful for any person, other than the owner of the property, to feed, whether by leaving food for or otherwise, any cat on private property without the written consent of the owner of the property.

(c)Affirmative defense. It shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution under subsection (a) of this section that the person feeding a cat on public property is only placing food within a working trap and such trap has been placed on public property with the written permission of the city manager.

(Ord. No. 10-079, § 1(App. A), 11-15-2010)

Bellaire Animal Control Function

The Bellaire Animal Control Unit enforces laws aimed at managing animals and protecting public health and safety. The Animal Control Officer will respond to calls from residents regarding sick or injured cats that pose an immediate threat to the public; however, the City of Bellaire does not have the capacity to trap and house free-roaming cats. As is the case with most area Animal Control Units, the department advocates "Trap-Neuter-Release" (TNR) as a way to manage community cat populations.

Trap-Neuter-Release

Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) is a nonlethal strategy intended to reduce the numbers of community cats, improve the health and safety of cats, and reduce impacts on wildlife. Community cats are spayed or neutered so they can no longer reproduce, vaccinated against rabies, marked to identify them as sterilized and returned to their home territory. The universally recognized sign of a sterilized community cat is an ear-tip, a surgical removal of the top quarter inch of the of the cat’s ear, typically the left.

The Bellaire Animal Control Unit does not administer any TNR programs. Instead, the Animal Control Unit has traps available for residents to use to trap community cats. Once trapped, the resident would be responsible for transporting the community cat to an area TNR service provider who will perform the spay/neuter service for a fee. Once treated, the community cat may be returned to the place of capture. 

Returning community cats to the trap location prevents what is called a “vacuum effect” whereby other cats will come into the area to replace the missing cat, often because of the availability of food or water or shelter. By returning the spayed/neutered cat the cat population remains stable and the inability to reproduce will diminish the population naturally.

Area TNR Resources

The following resources are available for residents that wish to employ a Trap-Neuter-Release strategy for community cat management:

• Houston BARC
• Citizens for Animal Protection
• Houston Cares Animal Rescue
• Homeless & Orphaned Pets Endeavor  

• Friends for Life Animal Shelter

The Bellaire Police Department relied on information available from the Humane Society of the United States in providing this information.