[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Highland Falls 8-10-1971 by L.L. No. 5-1971 as
Ch. 48 of the 1971 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Except where the context otherwise indicates, including a
female dog.
Any chain, cord, thong, rope or other material of sufficient
strength to restrain the dog to which it is attached.
Every person having a right of property in a dog, and every
person who has a dog in his keeping or who harbors a dog.
An individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association
of persons.
Any establishment, public or private, for the confinement
of dogs seized either under the provisions of this chapter or otherwise.
Any dog which has attacked a human being, other dog or other
domestic animal without provocation, which attack occurred off the
premises occupied by the person owning, keeping or harboring said
dog.
[Amended 9-5-1989 by L.L. No. 4-1989]
No dog shall be permitted to be or remain in
the Village of Highland Falls without being licensed and tagged as
required by Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law.
[Added 9-5-1989 by L.L. No. 4-1989]
All dogs shall be confined with certainty to
the owner's premises by a fence of sufficient height and construction
or a chain or rope of sufficient strength.
[Amended 9-5-1989 by L.L. No. 4-1989]
All dogs sick with or liable to communicate
hydrophobia or any other contagious or infectious disease shall at
all times be securely confined upon the premises of the owner.
All dogs, whether or not tagged or licensed,
while off the owner's premises, shall be restrained by a leash not
exceeding six feet in length in the hands of a person capable of leading
and controlling such dog, or shall be securely confined in an automobile
or other vehicle. In addition, a vicious or dangerous dog shall be
muzzled in a humane manner.
[Added 5-4-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009; amended 11-1-2010 by L.L. No.
2-2010]
All dogs, whether on or off leash, shall be prohibited in Center
Street Park, Ladycliff Park and Memorial Park. The presence of any
dog in Center Street Park, Ladycliff Park or Memorial Park shall be
prima facie evidence of a violation of the provisions of this section,
and the owner of such dog shall be subject to the penalty provisions
of this chapter. This section shall not apply to a service dog accompanying
a handicapped person.
[Amended 9-5-1989 by L.L. No. 4-1989]
A.Â
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall
suffer or permit such dog to disturb the peace and quiet of the neighborhood
by barking, whining, howling or crying or by conducting itself in
such a manner so as to unreasonably and habitually annoy any person.
B.Â
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall
suffer or permit such dog to cause damage or destruction to property
or commit a nuisance by defecating or urinating upon any premises
not owned or occupied by the owner of such dog.
C.Â
No person owning, keeping or harboring any dog shall
suffer or permit such dog to chase or otherwise harass any person
in such a manner as to reasonably cause intimidation or to put such
person in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm or injury.
D.Â
Where there is a reasonable probability that any vicious
dog confined on private property can escape such confinement, the
owner shall cause such dog to wear a muzzle in a humane manner.
Any dog found in the Village of Highland Falls
without a license or running at large or in violation of the regulations
set forth above is hereby declared to be a nuisance and shall be seized
and impounded.
Each police officer of the Village of Highland
Falls and each constable or dog warden of the Town of Highlands is
hereby designated peace officer and dog warden, authorized and charged
with the duty of seizing and impounding all dogs running at large
or violating any of the provisions of this chapter.
The fees and charges for taking up, impounding,
keeping and disposing of impounded animals shall be the fees and charges
set forth in Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law.
If the dog seized bears a license tag, the peace
officer shall ascertain the owner of the dog and shall give immediate
notice by personally serving such owner or any adult member of his
family with a notice, in writing, stating the dog has been seized
and will be destroyed unless redeemed within the period herein provided.
The owner of a dog seized may redeem the dog
within seven days, except that the owner of a dog bearing a license
tag may redeem the dog within 12 days, by paying the cost of seizure,
plus the cost of boarding said dog.
If not so redeemed, the owner shall forfeit
all title to the dog, and the dog shall be sold or destroyed by the
peace officer or other authorized official. In case of sale, the purchaser
must pay the purchase price to the Village of Highland Falls.
No person shall hereafter keep or house horses,
cattle, sheep, swine or any animal other than cats or other household
pets within the limits of the Village of Highland Falls without permission
of the Village Board. No permission to keep or maintain cats or other
household pets is required from the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Highland Falls. Permission shall be revocable at any time if it
appears from neighbors or otherwise that the keeping of the animals
in question is objectionable or offensive by reason of noise, smell
or other cause. This section shall have no application to such public
pound as may be established by the Village of Highland Falls nor to
an animal hospital for the treatment, care, observation or temporary
boarding of dogs or cats if such hospital shall be operated by a person
licensed to practice veterinary medicine under the provisions of the
New York State Education Law.
[Added 7-23-1985 by L.L. No. 3-1985; 9-5-1989 by L.L. No.
4-1989]
Every dog owner shall remove and properly dispose
of any feces left by his or her dog in or on any area outside the
property owned or occupied by the dog owner. This section shall not
apply to a guide dog accompanying a blind person.
[Amended 6-1-1976 by L.L. No. 2-1976; 9-5-1989 by L.L. No.
4-1989; 4-1-1998 by L.L. No. 1-1998; 11-17-2008 by L.L. No. 4-2008]
Notwithstanding any other provision herein,
any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty
of a violation and, for a first conviction thereof, shall be subject
to a fine in an amount not less than $25 nor more than $250, or a
maximum of 15 days' imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment;
for conviction of a second violation committed within 12 months of
the first violation, such person shall be subject to a fine in an
amount not less than $50 and not more than $250, or a maximum of 15
days' imprisonment, or both such fine and imprisonment; for conviction
of a third violation committed within 12 months of the first violation,
such person shall be subject to a fine in an amount not less than
$100 and not more than $250, or a maximum of 15 days' imprisonment,
or both such fine and imprisonment. For conviction of a fourth violation
and each subsequent violation committed within 12 months of any prior
violation, such person shall be subject to a fine in an amount not
less than $150 and not more than $250, or a maximum of 15 days' imprisonment,
or both such fine and imprisonment. Each day a violation occurs shall
be deemed a separate and distinct violation.
[Added 6-1-1976 by L.L. No. 2-1976]
A.Â
A person or persons authorized to enforce this chapter
as hereinabove provided is hereby authorized to issue an appearance
ticket for any violation of this chapter pursuant to the provisions
of the Criminal Procedure Law.
B.Â
Such appearance ticket shall provide that an answer
thereto may be made by registered or certified mail, return receipt
requested, within five days of the date thereof. Such appearance ticket
shall include and contain a form whereby the person charged may admit
to the violation or deny the same.
C.Â
A person answering such appearance ticket by mail
as herein provided and admitting the violation charged therein shall
be advised of the amount of the fine to be paid by the office specified
on such appearance ticket.
D.Â
A person answering such appearance ticket by mail
as hereinabove provided and denying part or all of the violation charged
shall so indicate such denial in the place provided in the appearance
ticket and shall forward the same, together with security in the amount
of $15, to the office specified on such appearance ticket.
E.Â
Upon receipt, such answer shall be entered and a new
return date established by said office. Such person shall be notified
by return mail of the date and place of such return date, and the
security shall be returned upon appearance thereat. If a person shall
fail to appear at a return date, the security posted to secure such
appearance shall be forfeited, and a summons or a warrant of arrest
may be issued pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Law.
