A.
Pennsylvania State Code, 3 P.S. § 455.8, is hereby adopted
by reference and in part states the following: "Every person living
in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, owning or keeping a dog or cat
over three months of age, shall cause that dog or cat to be vaccinated
against rabies. Rabies vaccine shall be administered by a licensed
veterinarian or under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.
The Commonwealth shall recognize the three-year rabies vaccine as
the vaccine to be used. Those animals vaccinated after one year of
age shall get booster vaccinations every three years thereafter. Those
animals vaccinated prior to one year of age will be considered protected
for only one year and shall receive a booster vaccination one year
later on the anniversary date of the original vaccination and shall
be vaccinated every three years thereafter."
B.
Certificate and tag of vaccination. Every licensed veterinarian who
vaccinates a dog or cat against rabies shall issue a vaccination certificate
and tag provided by the manufacturer to the owner.
A.
A current license issued by the County of Delaware shall be obtained
by the owner/guardian of every dog.
B.
Every dog and cat within the limits of the Borough of Upland must
wear an identification collar, clearly and legibly indicating the
name, address and phone number of the owner/guardian of that animal.
C.
All animals, when not within the owner/guardian's real property
limits, must be secured by a leash or lead or otherwise under the
immediate control of the owner/guardian.
D.
No owner/guardian of an animal shall be permitted to cause a nuisance as defined in § 48-2 of this chapter.
E.
The owner/guardian of every animal shall be held responsible for
every act and behavior of such animal under the provisions of this
chapter.
F.
Police officers of the Borough of Upland and/or the Animal Control
Officer may order a vicious animal confined by the animal's owner/guardian
within a building or secure enclosure.
G.
Except in cases of self-defense, the abandonment, killing, harming
or tormenting of any animal, wild or domestic, is prohibited and is
subject to fines and penalties provided herein, in addition to such
fines and penalties as may be imposed under county, state and federal
laws.
H.
All animals shall be kept and cared for in a humane manner at all
times. Animals shall be provided constant access to shelter which
protects the animal from inclement weather, keeps the animal dry and
keeps the animal's body temperature within the normal range.
Chains or ropes of any material must be appropriate to the size and
type of animal, must be at least five times the length of the animal
but less than 10 feet in length, must be placed and attached so that
the chain cannot become entangled so as to reduce the length of the
chain and must be attached to the animal by a belt-type collar. No
animal may be housed on a temporary or permanent basis in a metal
structure.
A.
Any private citizen may request the Borough Police Department to warn any owner/guardian of any animal which is considered to be a public nuisance as set forth in § 48-19 of this chapter.
B.
A warning by the police shall consist of delivery of a copy of this
article and section to the address in the Borough of any such owner/guardian.
C.
In the absence of any such warning being requested of the police,
the complaining private citizen may request the Code Enforcement Officer's
office to provide the desired warning.
D.
Any such request must be made in writing and shall identify and specify
the residence address of the owner/guardian of the allegedly offending
animal, and shall identify and specify the residence address of the
private citizen making the request. Upon receipt of such request,
the Borough Code Enforcement Officer shall mail a copy of this article
and section and a warning notice to the person identified as the owner/guardian
of said animal.
A.
Every owner/guardian of a guard dog or attack dog shall keep such
dog confined in a building, compartment or enclosure. Any such enclosure
shall be completely surrounded by a fence at least six feet in height
and shall be topped with an anti-climbing device sufficiently designed
to prevent said dog from escaping the enclosure by climbing over the
fence. Such enclosure must be in compliance with the Borough of Upland
Zoning Code.[1]
B.
All such anti-climbing devices shall extend inward at an angle of
not less than 45° nor more than 90° when measured from the
vertical.
C.
The areas of confinement shall have gates and entrances thereto which
are securely closed and locked, and all fences, gates and entrances
shall be properly maintained and escape proof.
D.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to dogs owned and
controlled by municipal law enforcement agencies.
Every dangerous dog or aggressive dog shall be confined by its
owner/guardian to the residence of its owner/guardian in accordance
with Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (P.S.) Title 3, Agriculture, Chapter
8, Dog Law, 3 P.S. § 459-502. Such residence shall be conspicuously
posted with a placard. Whenever off the premises of its owner/guardian,
the dog shall be securely muzzled and restrained with a chain having
a minimum tensile strength of 300 pounds and not more than three feet
in length, or caged. Every person harboring a dangerous dog or an
aggressive dog is charged with the affirmative duty to confine the
animal in such a way that children do not have access to such animal.
A.
It shall be the duty of any owner/guardian of a dog which has bitten
or injured any human being to report such occurrence immediately to
the Upland Borough Police Department and to comply fully with the
provisions of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (P.S.) Title 3, Agriculture,
Chapter 8, Dog Law, 3 P.S. § 459-502, its amendments and
supplements, and to pay all costs of examination by a qualified veterinarian,
and to comply with the orders of the Borough Health Officer and/or
the Borough of Upland Animal Control Officer.
B.
In the absence of such compliance or, in the case of an unidentified
dog, the Health Officer and/or the Animal Control Officer shall have
such examination made as promptly as possible, and the owner/guardian
shall be liable to the Borough for the costs thereof, to be collected
in any manner authorized by law.
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to keep, maintain or harbor any animal or animals on any property located in the Borough of Upland when the keeping, maintaining or harboring of such animal or animals constitutes a public nuisance, as defined in § 48-2, the definition of "nuisance," of this chapter, or a menace to public health or safety.
A.
No private citizen is authorized to trap animals. No private citizen
is authorized to set a trap of any kind designed to ensnare any animal
the size of an average adult cat or larger.
B.
Upon receipt of a complaint alleging facts sufficient to show that
actions of an owner/guardian of an animal is a nuisance, any Borough
Police Officer or the Animal Control Officer or the Code Enforcement
Officer will investigate, and, upon a finding of situations creating
a nuisance and for good cause shown, the Animal Control Officer may
seize or authorize the seizure of the animal via a humane live-animal
trap set on the complaining citizen's property. When the Animal
Control Officer authorizes and permits the setting of an animal trap
in response to a citizen complaint, the person requesting the trap
must make certain that any animal which becomes entrapped does not
suffer any physical harm either through neglect or intentional acts,
but not limited thereto, during the time the animal is so trapped.
Upon discovery of a trapped animal, it is the obligation of the complaining
citizen to report the capture of any animal to the Animal Control
Officer immediately. Failure to do so constitutes abusive neglect
and subjects the complaining citizen to fines and penalties set forth
in this article. All trapped animals must be released to the custody
of the Animal Control Officer. It shall be the right, the duty and
the obligation of any Borough Police Officer or the Animal Control
Officer to impound any animal found running at large or seen to be
without displaying the required County of Delaware license tag. Impoundment
shall take place at such animal shelter as may be designated by the
Council of the Borough of Upland by resolution or motion, and such
confinement shall be conducted in a humane manner.
C.
Immediately upon the impoundment of an animal, the Animal Control
Officer shall make every reasonable effort to notify the owner/guardian
of the animal so impounded and inform such owner/guardian of the conditions
and procedure whereby custody of the animal may be regained.
D.
In the event that animals are not wearing identification and are
not claimed within a period of two days during which the Borough-designated
shelter is open to the public, the Animal Control Officer may:
(1)
Surrender the ownership/guardianship and possession of the animal
to an approved rescue organization, or other no-kill shelter organization;
or
(2)
Contact the Delaware County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals, have the animal evaluated and, if acceptable to them,
surrender the ownership/guardianship and possession of the animal
to that organization; or
(3)
Where both of the previous alternatives [§ 48-20D(1) or (2) above] are absolutely impossible and the animal is unadoptable for reasons of health, age or vicious propensity or is otherwise so designated and declined by accessible alternative facilities and any other no-kill shelter, then the Animal Control Officer shall order the animal be euthanized via lethal injection administered by a Borough-designated veterinarian or a trained veterinary technician.
E.
When a nuisance animal's ownership/guardianship is verified
by the Animal Control Officer, the Animal Control Officer may exercise
the option of serving the owner/guardian with a notice of violation
citation in lieu of impounding the animal.
F.
In the event that any Borough Police Officer or the Animal Control
Officer finds an animal or animals in a state of suffering and/or
in physical pain or distress, any Borough Police Officer or the Animal
Control Officer shall have the right forthwith to remove or cause
to have removed said animal to a safe place for care at the owner/guardian's
expense and shall have the further right to cause the animal to be
euthanized when necessary to prevent continued clear and predictably
terminal suffering. When suffering or serious neglect is proven to
have been knowingly inflicted or tolerated by the owner/guardian,
possession of such animal may be forfeited.
G.
The authorized disposal of an animal or forfeiture of an animal does
not relieve the owner/guardian of liability for violations and fines,
penalties and costs otherwise due.
A.
The Animal Control Officer shall make known to the public an accurate
description of every animal impounded for two or more days by a public
posting at the Upland Borough Municipal Building, and by a posting
of said description on the Borough of Upland website.
B.
Any animal impounded may be redeemed by the owner/guardian thereof
during the period of the animal's impoundment upon payment of
$25 per day of impoundment. Payment of this impoundment fee is not
considered to be in lieu of any fine or penalty due to the Borough.
C.
Any animal confined for rabies quarantine, evidence or other purpose
may not be redeemed until provisions for licensing and all other requirements
under all laws have been fulfilled.
B.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter, Article I or Article III shall, upon his/her second and all subsequent conviction(s) thereof, in a summary proceeding before a District Justice, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution, and, in default of payment thereof, shall be committed to the Delaware County Prison for a period not exceeding 30 days; and
C.
Each day's continuance of a violation of this article shall
constitute a separate offense.
If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence,
clause or phrase of this chapter is, for any reason, held to be unconstitutional
or invalid, such a decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions of this chapter. The Borough Council hereby declares that
it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph,
sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter irrespective of the unconstitutionality
or invalidity of any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph sentence
clause or phrase.
This chapter shall take effect immediately following its adoption.
