[Adopted 4-28-1994 ATM, Art. 28; amended in its entirety 4-25-2014 ATM, Art. 14]
The town requires that all dog owners keep their dogs under
control at all time for the purpose of:
A. Protecting people and animals from injury.
B. Protecting property from damage.
C. Preventing dog-related nuisances.
Under control shall mean the dog is within the real property
limits of its owner or keeper or on the premises of another person
with the knowledge and express permission of such person, or secured
by a leash, lead, or under the direct control of the owner or keeper.
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[Amended by Ch. 141 of the Acts of 2019, approved 12-12-2019]
A. The Selectboard shall annually appoint an Animal Control Officer
who shall be responsible for the enforcement of this bylaw and the
General Laws relating to the regulation of animals.
B. For purposes of this bylaw and Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter
140, section 157, the Selectboard shall be the Hearing Authority.
Any owner or keeper who allows his/her dog to do any of the
following is in violation of this chapter:
A. Run at large or go beyond the confines of his or her property unless
the animal is held firmly on a leash.
B. Bite, bark, howl or in any other manner disturb the peace or quiet
of any neighborhood or endanger the safety of any person.
C. Run at large or unmuzzled in violation of any order of the Selectboard
or of the Dog Officer.
[Amended by Ch. 141 of the Acts of 2019, approved 12-12-2019]
D. Worry, kill, maim or otherwise injure another's fowl, livestock or
domestic animal.
E. Chase another's vehicle, person or bicycle on any way open to public
travel.
F. Be unlicensed or untagged in violation of state law.
G. Failure to remove waste.
(1) Each person who owns, keeps or controls a dog with the Town shall
remove and dispose of any feces left by such dog on any sidewalk,
street, park or other public areas or on any private property which
is not owned or occupied by such person.
(2) No person who owns, keeps or controls a dog within the Town shall
permit such dog to be on any sidewalk, street, park or other public
area unless such dog is accompanied by a person carrying a device,
which is suitable for picking up and containing feces unexposed to
such person and to the general public.
(3) For the purposes of Subsection
G(1), feces may only be disposed of at a place suitable and regularly reserved for the disposal of human feces or otherwise designated as appropriate by the Board of Health.
(4) Subsection
G(1) through
(3), inclusive, shall not apply to a dog accompanying any handicapped person, who due to a handicap, is physically unable to comply with the requirements of such paragraphs.
Penalties for violation of any section of this chapter shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for the first offense and forty dollars ($40.00) for each subsequent offense in the calendar year. Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate violation. This bylaw may be enforced through any means available in law or in equity, including anon-criminal disposition in accordance with G.L. c.40, § 21D and §
1-1 of the Code of the Town Sunderland.
[Adopted by the Board of Selectmen (now Selectboard) 7-26-2004; 4-25-2014 ATM, Art. 14]
[Amended 4-27-2012 ATM, Art. 23; Ch. 141 of the Acts of 2019, approved 12-12-2019]
The Selectboard is hereby authorized to adopt rules or regulations
concerning the keeping and conduct of dogs, including the imposition
of fines for violations thereof, which fines shall be determined by
the Selectboard annually and shall be kept on file in the office of
the Town Clerk.