Question
My cat Shiloh HATES his collar. When I adopted him I was told I need to keep a collar on him, even though I will never let him go outside (I was further informed that even though he is an indoor cat and never be outside, I could be fined $500 if he does not have a collar, Baltimore county). So I am wondering, is there anything I can do for him with his collar? He had a few times while trying to get it off, gotten it caught stuck with it in his mouth and paw stuck in his mouth trapped under the collar.
So my questions are:
Is there something else I can do to help him be more comfortable with his collar?
Is it true that my county (Baltimore county) has such a law?
I ask as I don't want my cat to hurt himself, and I also don't see the point of forcing him to wear it if I never let him out (he is microchipped just in case).
Answer
It's not clear in your description if you are using a breakaway collar (one example). If not, definitely switch to that. Instead of getting stuck and waiting for you to free him, a breakaway collar would just fall off and you'd have to put it back on again when you found it (they end up in weird places, we use one to bell our youngest so he can't sneak up on the older cats).
Most breakaway collars are sold with bells, but you can remove the bell with a set of pliers if you don't want it.
From what I can tell, Baltimore County requires you to have your pets be licensed (number 3), but it doesn't say that license must be on a collar at all times. Additionally, neither the information page about licensing, nor the pdf form give any collar requirements.
Please don't take my word for it that there are no collar requirements, just that I couldn't find any documentation of them. I've also never heard of them (I live in southern Maryland, but I am aware of most of MD's unusual animal laws). Please call the animal control office to verify at 410-887-PAWS (7297).
Answered By - Zaralynda