[Adopted 4-4-2001 by Ord. No. 998]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A domestic house cat, kept as a pet and/or for rodent control.
Any person owning, keeping, feeding, harboring or having
custody of a cat, or who allows a cat to reside or remain about his
premises, shall be considered a "cat keeper."
The practice of inoculations with a vaccine to afford protection
from rabies, as may be required by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
from time to time.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any keeper to own, keep,
feed, harbor or have custody of any cat that becomes a public nuisance
in the Borough. Acts of public nuisance shall include, but are expressly
not restricted to, the following:
(1)
The frequent, incessant or repetitive raising of any
disturbing noise between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., prevailing
time, or extended or incessant intervals at any other time of the
day, or both.
(2)
Vicious behavior which threatens the safety of any
person.
(3)
Frequent digging into flower beds, lawns, children's
sandboxes, gardens or the depositing of feces or urine, and/or otherwise
damaging shrubbery, trees, or lawns, on premises, personal property
or other property not belonging to the keeper of the cat.
B.
No keeper shall permit a cat to enter upon any area
utilized as a young child's play area in any publicly owned park or
playground.
C.
Any keeper of a cat shall comply with, and be current
with rabies vaccination requirements of the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania as the same may apply.
D.
The Police Department or the person so designated
by the governing body of the Borough shall enforce this section.
A.
The Code Inspector or the person or agency designated
by the governing body of the Borough shall be authorized to enforce
the provisions of this section. Upon receipt of a written complaint
that a cat is a public nuisance, the inspector will investigate said
complaint and, if founded, the inspector shall authorize the seizure
of the cat by the issuance of a humane-type cat trap to trap said
cat alive. Traps will only be set during daylight hours, Monday through
Friday. Trapping at night is prohibited. Traps shall be issued by
the Antietam Humane Society.
B.
The person who is issued the trap must notify the
enforcement officer within 24 hours after a cat is apprehended. The
person with the trap will transport and deliver the cat to the Antietam
Humane Society for holding.
C.
Any cat may be claimed by its keeper at the Antietam
Humane Society and pay all costs for the care, maintenance and disposal
of said cat as the Society may charge.
D.
Any cat which has been seized pursuant to this article
and which has not been reclaimed during the custodial period of not
less than five days may be adopted or disposed of in a humane manner
in accordance with standards and policy generally followed by the
Antietam Humane Society.
The inspector or 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 provision of this article.
Any person violating the provisions of this
article shall be issued a citation for a summary offense and shall,
upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than $50 nor more than
$300 or, in lieu of payment of this fine and cost of prosecution,
be imprisoned for not more than 30 days.
