[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Scranton 9-26-1979 as Ch. 6 of the 1979 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
When not upon the enclosure or under and in the actual control
of the owner.
The Director of the Department of Public Safety
is hereby authorized to provide and establish a pound at such place
within the City as he may deem best, wherein all animals at large
or without a license as required may be impounded. The Director may
employ a person to serve as poundmaster in each year, to take charge
of such pound, and to apprehend or impound all animals subject to
impounding as provided in this chapter.
A.
No person, whether as owner or harborer, shall cause
or permit any horse, mare, gelding, mule, ox, cow, bull, goat, sheep,
hog or cat to run at large upon the streets, avenues, courts, public
grounds or unenclosed land within the City.
B.
Any such animal running at large shall be considered
a public and common nuisance, and it shall be the duty of any police
officer to seize and take to the City pound every animal so found
running at large. If, after four days' public notice, no person shall
come forward to claim the same and pay the fine and all costs and
charges attending the keeping and seizing of such animal, it shall
be sold at public sale by the City poundmaster, and the proceeds from
such sale shall be paid to the City Treasurer for the use of the City.
A.
The Director of the Office of Public Health is hereby
authorized to designate a period, not exceeding six months in any
one year, as a quarantine during which period the following regulations
shall apply to dogs and cats:
B.
Any police officer in the City, under orders of the
Director of the Department of Public Safety, cooperating with the
Office of Public Health, is hereby authorized and empowered, within
the quarantine period as designated by the Director of the Office
of Public Health, to shoot or otherwise kill any such dog or cat found
running at large in the City.
A.
No person shall sell, offer for sale, barter or display
live baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl which have been dyed, colored
or otherwise treated so as to impart to them an artificial color.
B.
No person shall sell, offer for sale, barter or display
live baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl in any quantity less than
six.
The Director of the Office of Public Health
is authorized to notify all persons who shall keep or maintain chickens,
ducks, geese, guinea fowl, turkeys, pigeons or other domestic fowl
within the limits of the City which are confined or nesting in a space
within 15 feet from any dwelling to remove the same within 48 hours
after receipt of notice. However, the Director, before issuing such
notice, may require the filing of a written complaint in such form
as he may prescribe signed by the owner or occupant of the dwelling
affected.
A.
No person shall, within the City, keep any cow or
bull unless such person shall first have obtained a written permit
for the keeping of the same from the Director of the Office of Public
Health.
B.
The Director is hereby authorized to issue permits
for the keeping of cows or bulls within the City when, in his opinion,
it will not be injurious or dangerous to the health of the neighborhood
in which it is proposed to keep such animals, and to withhold such
permits and to revoke any permit previously granted when, in his opinion,
the keeping of such animals in the place proposed or in any place
where such animals have been previously kept would be injurious or
dangerous to the health of the neighborhood.
No person shall remove dead animals or convey
the same through any of the streets, courts, lanes or alleys of the
City, except in covered vehicles, which shall be constructed in such
manner as to prevent a nuisance.
[Added by Ord. No. 49-1980]
A.
AT LARGE
DOG
EUTHANIZE
IMPOUND
OWNER
PERSON
RESTRAINT
Definitions. The following terms, whenever used in
this section, shall have the meanings indicated in this subsection,
except where the context indicates a different meaning:
Any dog or other animal when it is off the property of its
owner and not restrained by a competent person.
Any member of the canine genus.
To put to death in a humane manner.
To apprehend, catch, trap, net, or, if necessary, to kill
any animal by the local Police Department or authorized local agency.
Any person or group of persons, firms or corporations owning,
keeping or harboring a dog or dogs or other animals.
Any natural person, partnership, corporation or association.
Occurs when a dog or other animal is controlled by a leash
or chain, not exceeding six feet in length, and where such chain or
leash shall prevent such dog or other animal from terrorizing or attacking
persons using sidewalks, etc.
B.
Running at large. It shall be the duty of every police
officer or authorized agency to seize and detain any dog or dogs which
are running at large, either upon the public streets or highways of
the City of Scranton, or upon the property of other than the owner
of such dogs and not restrained by the owner or keeper.
C.
Harboring a nuisance. It shall be unlawful for any
person to keep any dog or dogs, cats or other animals which, by frequent
howling, barking, baying, yelping or screeching, shall disturb the
peace of the neighborhood or constitute a health hazard to the citizens
of the City of Scranton.
D.
Notice of apprehension. Whenever a dog or other animal has been apprehended in accordance with Subsections B and C herein, the police or other authorized agency shall notify the owner or owners of such dog or other animal of said apprehension, notifying said owner or owners that they have violated the provisions of this section, and issue a warning for the first offense; after the first offense warning, said police officer may issue a citation to such person, charging the violation of the summary offense as an alternative to filing an ordinance complaint.
E.
Removal of wastes. It shall be the duty of each dog owner to remove any feces left by his or her dog or any other animal on any sidewalk, gutter, street, public yards, private yards or other public area. For purposes of Subsection E, a citation may be issued by sanitation officers and by police officers to such animal owner charging them with a summary offense and fined as outlined in Subsection G. The provisions of this subsection do not apply to a guide dog accompanied by a blind person.
F.
Plea of defendant. The defendant shall, within 10
days of issuance of a citation, either (1) plead not guilty by appearing
before the District Magistrate of the City of Scranton, entering his
plea and posting such security for his appearance at trial as the
issuing authority shall require, or (2) notify the District Magistrate
of the City of Scranton, in writing, of his plea, and forward a sum
equal to the fine and costs specified in the citation, or (3) plead
guilty, by forwarding to the District Magistrate of the City of Scranton,
an amount equal to the fine and costs when specified in the citation;
or a notice that failure to respond to citation as herein provided
in the time specified shall result in the issuance of a warrant for
the arrest of the defendant.
G.
Fine and penalties. An owner of a dog violating any
provision of this section shall pay a fine of not more than $100 or,
in default of payment thereof, shall undergo imprisonment for a period
not exceeding 24 hours.
No person being the owner or custodian of a
dog shall allow the same to run at large within the limits of the
City.
Any person keeping, harboring or maintaining
a vicious dog which shall have bitten or attempted to bite any human
being shall be held liable and responsible for all damages therefrom.
Upon complaint being made, after investigation by the Superintendent
of Police, such dog may be killed upon sight wherever it may be found,
dwelling houses excepted.
Any dog which may have been or is bitten by
any rabid dog or other rabid animal shall forthwith be killed and
disposed of so as to prevent any nuisance therefrom. It shall be the
duty of police officers to enforce the provisions of this section.
Upon conviction for any violation of this chapter,
1/2 of any fine imposed shall be paid to the City Treasurer for the
creation of a fund for the treatment for the prevention of hydrophobia.
It shall be the duty of the City Treasurer to make monthly reports
to the City Controller of the moneys so received. The fund shall be
immediately available and is hereby appropriated to assist in defraying
the expenses for treatment and prevention of hydrophobia of any person
who may be bitten by any dog within the limits of the City.
Any dog bearing a proper license tag so seized
and detained for running at large shall be properly kept and fed.
Notice, either personal or by registered mail, shall be given to the
person in whose name the license was procured, or his agent, to claim
such dog within five days from receipt of such notice. The owner of
the dog so detained shall pay $2 for each day the dog is so detained
to cover the reasonable expenses of such detention, under the provisions
of this article, before the dog is returned.
Any dog seized and detained for running at large
which does not bear a proper license tag shall be kept and fed for
three days, and the owner of the dog, who shall identify himself,
shall pay $2 for each day the dog is detained to cover the reasonable
expenses of such detention before the dog is returned.
If, after 10 days from receipt of notice in
the case of licensed dogs and five days after seizure in the case
of unlicensed dogs, such dog has not been claimed or redeemed, the
designated officer shall dispose of such dog by sale or destruction
by some humane manner.
Sale or destruction of a dog under § 169-16 shall not relieve the owner of such dog from liability for expenses incurred by reason of the dog's detention, and the City shall levy against such owner and collect by whatever means are necessary at the rate prescribed in §§ 169-14 and 169-15 for each day of detention, which shall be paid to the City Treasurer.
[Amended 11-29-2022 by Ord. No. 37-2022[1]]
No person shall have, keep, maintain, or harbor any dog within
the limits of the City without first having obtained a license through
Lackawanna County, pursuant to the Pennsylvania Dog Law (3 P.S. § 459-101
et seq.), as may be amended.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance provided an effective date of
1-1-2023.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 169-19, Exception for kennel
license, as amended, was repealed 11-29-2022 by Ord. No. 37-2022,
effective 1-1-2023.
[Amended 11-29-2022 by Ord. No. 37-2022[1]]
No dog kept in a kennel shall be permitted to stray or to be
taken from the kennel, except by leash or in a crate.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance provided an effective date of
1-1-2023.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 169-21, Issuing authority;
fees; exemptions, as amended, was repealed 11-29-2022 by Ord. No.
37-2022, effective 1-1-2023.
[Amended 11-29-2022 by Ord. No. 37-2022[1]]
Each licensed dog shall have, and continuously wear around its
neck, a collar with a metal tag or plate, having thereon the number
of the license granted for such animal, which metal tag or plate shall
be furnished to the applicant pursuant to Pennsylvania Dog Law.[2]
[Amended 11-29-2022 by Ord. No. 37-2022[1]]
The Scranton Department of Animal Control shall work with Lackawanna
County and/or the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to maintain
a full and complete record of every dog license issued in the City
of Scranton.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance provided an effective date of
1-1-2023.
No person, except the owner, shall remove from
the neck of any dog the metal tag or plate specified in this article.
A.
Any person may make complaint at the police station
of other persons keeping or maintaining any unlicensed dogs. It shall
be the duty of the police officer in charge to immediately investigate
the same and, if the complaint is found correct, to apprehend and
impound such dog or cause the same to be done.
B.
All dogs liable to impounding under this article shall,
upon apprehension, be delivered to the poundmaster or City pound as
soon as possible.
Any person who keeps, maintains or possesses
any unlicensed dog shall be deemed the owner thereof and subject to
a penalty. Any dog found without the metal tag or plate attached to
its collar as required in this article shall be deemed prima-facie
unlicensed.
