No resident of the Town of Milton shall own,
keep, harbor, or have control of any dog over six months of age unless
it is duly licensed pursuant to the laws of the State of Delaware.
No person shall own, keep, harbor or have control
of any dog over six months of age unless a license tag is worn at
all times by the dog in the manner provided by the laws of the State
of Delaware.
No person shall harbor or hold for reward a
dog which has strayed upon his premises or which has been picked up
on a public street, highway or other public place unaccompanied by
its owner or other person, or which has been stolen from its owner.
A.
For the purpose of this chapter, a "dangerous or vicious
dog" shall be defined to mean a dog that:
(1)
Without provocation has attacked, killed or inflicted
injury upon a person, whether such attack occurred on or off the dog
owner's real or residence property or not, providing that, if the
attack occurred on the dog owner's property, the injured party was
on said property for a lawful purpose; or
(2)
Killed or inflicted severe injury upon a domestic
animal when not on the offending dog owner's real or residential property;
or
(3)
Approached a person when not on the offending dog
owner's real or residence property, or other location where the dog
is normally housed, in a vicious or terrorizing manner, in an apparent
attitude of attack, as determined by the Chief of Police or designee,
game warden or Animal Control Officer authorized to perform any duty
under this chapter, upon the sworn affidavit of at least two eye witnesses;
or
(4)
Any dog owned or harbored primarily or in part for
the purpose of dog fighting, or any dog trained for dog fighting.
B.
In instances where a violation of this section occurs, the owner of the property where the dog was kept at the time of the offense, whether said property is real property or residence property, as defined elsewhere in this chapter, shall be equally responsible for the actions of the offending dog, along with the dog's owner or custodian, and shall be in violation of this section, subject to the same penalties, as defined under § 63-26, as well as such other penalties or judgments that a court might impose. It shall be no defense to this section that the property owner or landlord of the property where the dog was kept was unaware of the dog's existence or propensity for vicious or dangerous actions.
No person, except a police officer, game warden
or Animal Control Officer in the performance of their duties, shall
kill or injure any licensed dog, or attempt to do so within the Town,
except in the case of a dog attacking a human being.
If any dangerous, fierce or vicious dog shall
be found running at large and cannot be taken up, tranquilized or
impounded, such dog may be slain by any police officer or agent authorized
to perform any duty under this chapter.
Any female dog, while in heat, running at large
within the Town, shall be deemed a public nuisance, and the dog when
apprehended will be turned over and released to the state dog warden
(SPCA) in Sussex County for disposition in accordance with the provisions
of the game and fish laws and regulations.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to cause or permit
a dog to be on property, public or private, not owned or possessed
by such person unless such person has in his immediate possession
an appropriate device for scooping excrement and an appropriate depository
for the transmission of such excrement to a receptacle located upon
the property owned or possessed by such person.
B.
The provisions of this section shall not be applicable
to any dog performing some act or function on behalf of any law enforcement
or branch of the armed forces of this nation nor to any Seeing Eye
dog being handled by a person who is legally blind.
