Overview

• Bacal ruled on June 9 that the society’s February policy revisions satisfy state law.
• New guidelines require shelter staff to check for signs of prior ownership—such as veterinary treatment marks—before deciding a cat’s fate.
• Unowned cats will continue to be sterilized, vaccinated and released to manage free-roaming populations humanely.
• The ruling declined to consider a cat’s socialization status as part of eligibility criteria, rejecting plaintiffs’ core demand.
• Plaintiffs’ attorney Bryan Pease said the injunction now compels the society to admit stray and abandoned cats for shelter care and adoption.