[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Borough of West
View as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 7-6-1977 by Ord. No. 1194 (Ch. 58 of the 1977 Code)]
A.
Word usage. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in
the present tense include the future; words used in the plural number
include the singular number; and words used in the singular number
include the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and
not merely directory.
B.
ABANDONED CAT
CAT
KEEPER
OWNER
PERSON
POUND
PUBLIC NUISANCE
STRAY CAT
Definitions. For the purpose of this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A cat of any age which shall be left unattended and at large
for a period of 72 hours or more.
Any animal of the feline species, male or female.
Any person having custody or control over a cat or permitting
a cat to remain on the premises under his control.
Every person having a right of property in such cat and every
person keeping or harboring such cat or feeding such cat for more
than 48 hours.
Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association
of persons.
An establishment for the confinement of cats taken into custody
by the Animal Control Officer.
A cat that damages either public or private property or harms
the lawful users or occupants thereof.
A cat having no known owner or custodian or known place of
care or shelter.
Any person who owns, keeps or harbors any cat located within
the Borough of West View or permits a cat to enter the corporate limits
of the Borough of West View shall exercise sufficient and proper care
and control over such animal at all times so as to prevent the animal
from becoming a public nuisance or otherwise violating this article.
No person owning, keeping or harboring any cat shall permit
it to soil, defile or commit any nuisance on any place where people
congregate or walk or upon any public property whatsoever. This provision
shall apply to all privately owned property in the Borough except
the property of the owner or keeper of the cat and the property owned
or controlled by persons who have invited or permitted the owner or
keeper of a cat to bring such cat upon the premises.
No person owning or keeping a cat shall permit such cat to become
a public nuisance as defined herein.
No person shall abandon any cat of any age or permit a cat to
become a stray.
Every female cat in heat shall be confined in a building or
secure enclosure in such a manner that such female cat cannot come
into contact with another cat except for planned breeding.
The Borough may, by resolution, establish a pound and/or appoint
an Animal Control Officer whose duties shall include the enforcement
of the provisions of this article. The Borough may, when authorized
by resolution, contract with the Animal Control Officer for the collection,
keeping, redemption or disposition of cats when taken into custody
in accordance with the provisions hereof. The Animal Control Officer
or authorized agent shall be empowered to take into his custody and
impound cats reasonably believed to him to be stray or abandoned as
defined herein and otherwise enforce the requirements of this article.
The Animal Control Officer designated and authorized by the
Borough to enforce the provisions of this article shall, upon receipt
of a complaint that a violation has taken place, investigate the complaint
and, if a violation is found by him to exist, issue a summons to the
owner or keeper or, if the cat is a stray or abandoned cat, take such
cat into custody for a period of seven days prior to disposition by
him in accordance with the provisions of this article. In addition,
any cat that is the subject of a complaint may be taken into custody
if it bears any identification of ownership and has a known owner
or keeper but such owner or keeper cannot be located after reasonable
efforts as made by the Animal Control Officer to deliver such cat
to the owner or keeper.
If a cat bearing identification or evidence of ownership or
place of abode is taken into custody pursuant to the provisions of
this article, the Animal Control Officer or other authorized person
shall immediately thereafter notify the owner or occupant of such
place where the animal is found and taken into custody and that it
may be claimed at a designated location subject to the charges and
fees hereinafter set forth. The Animal Control Officer shall maintain
a record of such notifications, including the date and names and addresses
of persons notified.
During the aforementioned seven-day custodial period, any cat
so taken into custody may be claimed by its owner upon payment to
the Animal Control Officer or other authorized person of all reasonable
expenses incurred by reason of its detention and care, not to exceed
the sum of $5 for the taking into custody and maintenance of said
cat for the first 12 hours, plus the sum of $1 for each additional
day or any fraction thereof that said cat has been taken into custody.
In addition to the foregoing fees and charges, a summons may be issued
for the violation to a person who claims such cat as its owner or
keeper.
Any cat which has been taken into custody pursuant to this article
and which has not been reclaimed during the custodial period may be
claimed by any person willing to assume the responsibility of ownership
and custodial charges as set forth above. Otherwise, the cat may be
disposed of in as humane a manner as possible and in accordance with
euthanasia procedures recommended by the American Veterinary Medical
Association.
The Animal Control Officer or his authorized agent or any municipal
officer or agent authorized and empowered to perform any duty under
this article is hereby authorized to enter upon any premises to enforce
the provisions of this article.
No more than four cats shall be kept, maintained or harbored
for more than 90 days in any residential housing unit or on its grounds.
This provision shall not apply to cats which have been owned prior
to the effective date of this article.
[Adopted 11-14-1990 by Ord. No. 1323 (Ch. 62 of the 1977 Code)]
For the purposes of this article, the definitions set forth
in § 102 of the Law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania[1] be and the same are hereby adopted by reference as fully
as though said definitions were set forth at length herein.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 3 P.S. § 459 et seq.
An Animal Control Officer, to be designated by the Town Council
of the Borough of West View, from time to time, together with all
police officers of the Borough of West View, shall be authorized to
enforce the provisions of the Dog Law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
in this article.
No person shall cruelly treat any dog in the Borough. The term
"cruel treatment" shall include any beating, intentional infliction
of injury or wound, underfeeding or the abandonment of any dogs.
All dogs shall be kept under restraint either by a leash, not
to exceed eight feet in length, held by the owner or a responsible
person or his agent or being kept within the exclusive premises of
the owner. Violation of the provisions of this section shall be deemed,
in addition to the provisions of the Dog Law of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, a public nuisance of the Borough of West View when such
dog is not under restraints required by the provisions of this section.
[Amended 6-14-2000 by Ord. No. 1393]
Excessive, continuous or untimely barking, molesting of passersby,
chasing of motor vehicles or bicycles, the habitual attacking of other
domestic animals or trespassing on public or private property shall
be deemed a public nuisance and a violation of the provisions of this
article. For the purposes of this section, "untimely" shall mean any
barking between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. "Excessive" barking
shall be defined as continuous barking for periods in excess of one
hour without noticeable interruption. "Noticeable interruption" shall
mean silence for 20 minutes or more in any one-hour period of time.
It shall be the duty of the owner of any dog in the Borough
of West View to have the dog inoculated against rabies and to provide,
upon request, by an enforcement officer of the Borough of West View
a certificate of effective current inoculation by a veterinarian.
The failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall be
deemed a violation of this article.
No dogs, whether under restraint or otherwise, are permitted
in the playgrounds, park areas or other public grounds or buildings
of the Borough of West View.
A.
Beyond owner's property. It shall be the duty of the owner of
a dog or his agent to promptly remove the dog's excrement from
any property beyond the premises of the owner and to clean such affected
area immediately. For the enforcement of the provisions of this subsection,
an owner or agent accompanying a dog under proper restraints as required
under the provisions of this article shall carry on his person materials
necessary to comply with the prior provisions of this subsection.
Any owner of a dog who fails to so remove or clean the dog's
excrement or to have available materials for this purpose shall be
deemed in violation of this article.
B.
Owner's property. Insofar as the private property is concerned,
dog excrement found on the property which tends to cause noxious odors
because of the owner's failure to dispose of or clean such excrement
from his property shall constitute a public nuisance of the Borough
of West View and a violation of the provisions of this article.
Any person, firm or corporation which may operate a dog kennel
within the limits of the Borough of West View shall secure a special
kennel license. Any person, firm, corporation or household having
three or more dogs over the age of six months shall be deemed to be
operating a kennel. The enforcement officer or police officers of
the Borough of West View shall periodically inspect such kennels to
determine the safe, sanitary and health conditions of such kennel.
No dog shall be permitted to remain at any kennel unless a certificate
of a duly authorized veterinarian is produced indicating that such
dog has been inoculated against rabies within the past three years.
The enforcement officials may, upon approval of the Borough Council,
establish rules and regulations for the operation of a kennel within
the Borough of West View. The fee for the issuance of a kennel license
shall be $100.
Any person who is in violation of any of the provisions of this
article, upon conviction thereof before a Magisterial District Judge,
shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $20 nor more than
$300, together with the costs of prosecution. Each violation shall
be considered a separate offense and shall be deemed committed on
each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
