City of Watertown, NY Article I Dogs

[Adopted 6-28-1954]

§ 81-1 Licensing.

[Amended 12-6-2010 by L.L. No. 4-2010[1]]

No person shall own or harbor a dog except as provided herein.

A. All dogs in the City of Watertown, unless otherwise exempted, must be licensed with the City Clerk by the age of four months, have license tags, and are required to present a current certificate of rabies at the time of licensing or the renewal of an existing license. Dogs of any age which are held at a shelter, pursuant to a contract or agreement with the County of Jefferson or a duly incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, humane society or dog protective association do not have to be licensed.

B. Any dog harbored within the City of Watertown which is owned by a resident of New York City or licensed by the City of New York, or which is owned by a nonresident of New York State and licensed by a jurisdiction outside the State of New York, shall for a period of 30 days be exempt from the licensing and identification provisions of this section.

C. All dog licenses shall be for a period of one year and will expire at the end of the month one year from the date of issue. Municipal identification tags will be issued by the City Clerk.

D. Fees for licensing dogs. Fees and charges for spayed or neutered dogs and for unspayed or unneutered dogs shall be as established at least annually by the Watertown City Council through a budget resolution that adopts a City Fees and Charges Schedule. Said schedule shall be available to the public at the office of the Watertown City Clerk.

[Amended 8-15-2016 by L.L. No. 2-2016]

E. Enumeration fee. When, and if, the City Council determines the need for a dog enumeration, a fee of $5 will be assessed to all dogs found unlicensed, or upon license renewal, at the time the enumeration is conducted.

F. Purebred/kennel license. The City of Watertown will not be issuing purebred or kennel licenses. All dogs will be licensed individually as per fee system stated above.

G. Service dogs. The City of Watertown will issue exempt license(s) for any guide dog, service dog, hearing dog, detection dog, search dog, working dog or therapy dog upon presentation of a current certificate of rabies.

H. The City of Watertown does not authorize the licensing of dogs by a shelter.

I. All dog licenses and municipal identification tags may be purchased by visiting the City Clerk’s office or by regular mail. If licensing or renewing a license by mail, the appropriate fee must accompany the forms. There will be no refund of fees.

J. All fees will be used in funding the administration of this chapter.[2]

[2] Editor's Note: Former Sec. 56-8, dealing with dogs disturbing persons, as amended 7-12-1954, which immediately followed this section, was deleted 8-28-1962.

[1] Editor's Note: This local law also provided an effective date of 1-1-2011.

§ 81-2 Commercial kennels.

A. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

COMMERCIAL KENNEL

A place where one or more dogs are harbored or kept for sale and/or for stud service and/or which possesses facilities for boarding dogs for a period of at least six months out of a year.

B. A person who owns or harbors or keeps a dog or dogs which has or have two or more litters born during any one calendar year shall be considered to be the owner of a commercial kennel.

C. No person shall own or maintain a kennel, as herein defined, without having first secured therefor a kennel license.

[Amended 12-1-1986 by L.L. No. 1-1986]

D. Records must be kept by each owner of a kennel of the information required by the City to be submitted to the City Clerk.

[Amended 12-1-1986 by L.L. No. 1-1986]

E. The following provisions shall apply to the ownership or maintenance of any commercial kennel as defined herein:

(1) All shelters and yards in which dogs are kept shall at all times be clean and free from the accumulation of manure or objectionable odors. No such shelter or yard shall be located within 10 feet of any inhabited dwelling or business place nor within five feet of a party line without the consent of the adjoining owner or tenant. No such shelter or yard shall be located in front of or at either side of a dwelling or business place. Yards shall be of open wire fencing of sufficient strength and height to restrain dogs therein confined.

(2) No dogs shall be bred within view of the public.

(3) Male dogs and female dogs unspayed shall not be permitted to run at large together.

§ 81-3 Dog bites; rabies precautions.

[Added 9-17-1956]

A. Any dog bite shall be immediately reported to the Health Officer or Police Department by the person bitten or by the parent or guardian of a minor, if the person bitten is a minor, or by the attending physician.

B. Animals subject to rabies to be confined. Whenever the Health Officer or Chief of Police are notified of an animal of a species subject to rabies, which has bitten any person, he shall cause the animal to be confined for a period of 10 days. If the animal becomes ill during its confinement, the Health Officer shall be immediately notified by the person in whose custody the animal is confined. Furthermore, if such animal developed active symptoms of rabies within that time, it shall be killed under the direction of the Health Officer.

C. Animals suspected of rabies to be confined. The Health Officer or Chief of Police shall secure and confine, or cause to be secured and confined, under competent observation any animal within the City of Watertown suspected of having rabies for such time as may be necessary for the Health Officer to determine the diagnosis. Such animal shall be confined in a locked enclosure approved by the Health Officer as being so constructed that the animal cannot escape and cannot have contact with any other animals. Such animal may be confined by a veterinary, licensed by the State of New York, at the expense of the owner of the dog, if so agreed by the owner and veterinary. The expense of any isolation, however, shall be borne by the owner. If such animal cannot be secured and confined, the Health Officer shall cause such animal to be killed. If an animal is known to have rabies, it shall be killed under the direction of the Health Officer. If the animal becomes ill during its confinement, the Health Officer shall be immediately notified by the person in whose custody the animal is confined.

D. Persons to confine animals. Any person who owns or harbors an animal of a species subject to rabies, which has bitten any person, ordered by the Health Officer, the Chief of Police or any duly authorized representative of either to confine such an animal shall do so immediately and shall keep such animal confined for a period of 10 days from the date of such bite, or longer if ordered to do so by the Health Officer.

§ 81-4 Definitions.

[Added 8-28-1962; amended 4-2-1990]

As used in this Article, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

DOG

Any member of the species canis familaris.

DOG CONTROL OFFICER

A person appointed by the City Manager to assist in the enforcement of this Chapter and Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law, as herein specified, or any member of the Police Department of this City.

HARBOR

To provide food or shelter to any dog.

IDENTIFICATION TAG

A tag which sets forth an official identification number as required by the provisions of Agriculture and Markets Law Article 7.

IDENTIFIED DOG

Any dog carrying an identification tag as provided in § 112 of the Agriculture and Markets Law.

OWN and OWNER

Includes any person having a right of property in a dog and any person who keeps or harbors a dog or has in his care or who acts as its custodian, and any person who permits a dog to remain on or about any premises occupied by him.

RUNNING AT LARGE

Any dog roaming, running or self-hunting off the property of its owner or custodian and not under its owner's or custodian's immediate control.

§ 81-5 Leashing; dogs prohibited in certain places; exceptions.

[Added 8-28-1962]

A. Any person owning or harboring a dog shall restrain such dog by a leash not to exceed eight feet in length while such dog is off its owner's or keeper's premises.

[Amended 8-20-1974]

B. Dogs are prohibited in any restaurant, grocery or other store where perishable goods are sold.

C. Dogs prohibited at special events and near swimming pools and playgrounds; exceptions.

[Added 1-17-2012]

(1) It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog to permit or allow such dog to be present at any special event in the City or to be upon City-owned property and within 20 feet of any City-owned swimming pool or playground equipment located within any City park or playground. For purposes of Subsection C, a special event shall mean the following activities upon City-owned property: the farm and craft market; the 4th of July concert at Thompson Park; or the Jefferson County Fair. A special event shall also include any other specifically approved event conducted, at least in part, upon City-owned property and which will or may involve significant public assembly.

(2) The posting of signage by the host of a special event, to the effect that dogs are not permitted at the special event, shall be presumptive evidence that said event will or may involve significant public assembly and will be conducted, at least in part, on City property.

(3) The prohibition herein shall not apply to an owner whose dog is confined within an automobile, crate, cage or similar structure that prevents a dog from causing personal injury or damage to personal property.

(4) The prohibition of this § 81-5C may be waived by special approval of the City Manager or his or her designee.

(5) There shall be excluded from this Subsection C any owner of a dog which is defined under Section 108 of the New York Agriculture and Markets Law, as the same may be amended from time to time, as a guide dog, hearing dog, service dog, working search dog, therapy dog, detection dog, war dog, or any other dog which may be utilized by law enforcement agencies within the jurisdiction of the City, or which are professionally trained service animals utilized by persons with disabilities.

§ 81-5.1 Removal of feces.

[Added 4-2-1990]

An owner or person having custody of any dog or any other animal shall not permit said dog or any other animal to defecate on any school ground, public street, alley, sidewalk, tree bank, park or other public grounds or on any private property within the City, other than the premises of the owner or person having custody of said dog or other animal, unless said defecation is removed immediately.

§ 81-6 Running at large.

[Added 8-28-1962]

A. An owner of a dog or dogs shall not permit such dog or dogs, whether licensed or unlicensed, to become a public nuisance.

B. A dog shall be presumed to be a public nuisance if it shall:

(1) Consistently or persistently bark or howl or whine or snarl or growl.

(2) Cause personal injury.

(3) Cause damage to personal property.

(4) Transport trash or create impairment of lawns, hedges, flower beds and gardens on property other than of the owner or of anyone having the dog in custody.

(5) Persistently bark or chase or growl or snarl at pedestrians who are using the sidewalks while the dog is on the property of the owner or harborer.

(6) Roam with one or more other dogs in a pack.

(7) Be in the habit of chasing or barking at automobiles, bicycles, motorcycles and/or minibikes.

[Amended 8-13-1974]

(8) A female dog in time of heat running at large.

(9) Kill other animals, except rats and mice.

(10) Be off its owner's or keeper's premises without a leash.

[Amended 8-13-1974]

§ 81-7 Public pound.

[Added 8-28-1962; amended 12-1-1986 by L.L. No. 1-1986]

There shall be maintained a public pound or dog shelter in which shall be distrained all dogs running at large, which are dangerous as specified in § 121 of the Agriculture and Markets Law or a public nuisance as herein defined. The City Manager shall designate a place owned by the City for distraining of dogs to be known as the "City Dog Shelter."

§ 81-8 Pound records.

[Added 8-28-1962]

At the pound or dog shelter a book must be kept in which the dog warden must enter, or cause to be entered, forthwith the name and residence of any person bringing any dog to the pound, the date when the same was brought, a description of said dog sufficient for identification and the name and residence of the owner thereof, if known, which book must at all times be open for public inspection.

§ 81-9 Impounding of animals.

[Added 8-28-1962; amended 5-21-1984; 4-2-1990]

It is the duty of the Dog Control Officer to seize and impound:

A. All vicious and dangerous dogs.

B. All dogs running at large.

C. Any dog which is not identified and which is not on the owner's premises.

D. Any dog which is not licensed, whether or not on or off the owner's premises.

§ 81-10 Impoundment fees.

[Added 8-28-1962; amended 5-21-1984; 12-1-1986 by L.L. No. 1-1986; 4-2-1990]

A. Unidentified dogs. As provided for in § 118 of the Agriculture and Markets Law, the City shall properly shelter, feed and water for the redemption period any seized dog impounded by the City until disposed of as provided by the aforementioned law.

B. Each dog which is not identified, whether or not licensed, shall be held for a period of five days from the day seized, during which period the dog may be redeemed by its owner, provided that such owner produces proof that the dog has been licensed and has been identified pursuant to § 118 of the Agriculture and Markets Law or, in the event the dog is unlicensed, by purchasing a dog license from the City Clerk upon proof that said dog has been identified pursuant to § 118 of the Agriculture and Markets Law and paying a fee of $25 to the Dog Control Officer for the dog's impoundment. In the event that the owner is notified by mail, the redemption period shall be 10 days from the date of the mailing of said notice.

C. Promptly upon seizure of any identified dog, the owner of record shall be notified personally or by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the facts of seizure and the procedure for redemption. If notification is personally given, such dog shall be held for a period of seven days after date of notice, during which period the dog may be redeemed by the owner. If such notification is made by mail, such dog shall be held for a period of nine days from the date of mailing, during which period the dog may be redeemed by the owner. In either case, the owner may redeem such dog upon payment of the impoundment fees prescribed in Subsection B of this section and by producing proof that the dog has been licensed.

D. The owners of the impounded dog shall pay the City an additional fee of $5 per day for room and board.

§ 81-11 Interference with enforcement officials.

[Added 8-28-1962]

No person shall molest or interfere in any way with any peace officer, dog warden, or any of his duly authorized assistants, or with the duly authorized agents of any person or corporation engaged in enforcing the provisions of the Agriculture and Markets Law, relating to dogs, or of the provisions of this Article, while he or they are engaged in the performance of their duties.

§ 81-12 Penalties for offenses.

[Added 8-28-1962; amended 5-21-1984; 4-2-1990]

Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this Article shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $250 or imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both. Each day of continued violation is a separate and distinct offense.

§ 81-13 Applicability.

[Added 8-28-1962]

A. This Article shall not apply to a dog owned by a nonresident while passing through the City of Watertown nor to dogs brought into the City of Watertown for a period not exceeding 15 days, if entered in any exhibition at any dog show therein and confined and in immediate charge of the exhibitor or a dog commonly known as a "Seeing Eye" dog while guiding its master.

B. This Article shall not apply to dogs actually confined to the premises of incorporated societies devoted to the care of hospital treatment of lost, strayed or homeless animals or confined to the premises of public or private hospitals devoted to the treatment of sick animals.