[Adopted 6-7-1983 by L.L. No. 1-1983]
The purpose of this article is to protect the
public health, safety and welfare by controlling and regulating the
dog population in the Town of Olive, hereinafter called the "town,"
and by reinforcing that portion of the Agriculture and Markets Law
of the State of New York pertaining to the licensing and identification
of dogs.
This article is enacted pursuant to the authority
vested in the Town of Olive by the Town Law, Municipal Home Rule Law,
the Agriculture and Markets Law and other pertinent laws of New York
State.
The following words and phrases will have the
following definitions for purposes of this article:
Unleashed and on property open to the public or on private
property not owned or leased by the owner of the dog without permission
of the owner or tenant of the property. No dog shall be deemed at
large if it is:
Any member of the species canis familiaris.
Any individual appointed by the town to enforce this article or Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law of the State of New York, or any authorized officer, agent or employee of any incorporated animal humane society or incorporated dog protective association under contract with the town to assist in the enforcement of this article and Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law of the State of New York.
To provide food or shelter to any dog.
Any person legally entitled to possession of a dog pursuant
to § 108, Subdivisions 15 and 16, of the Agriculture and
Markets Law unless such dog is lost and such loss was promptly reported
to the Dog Control Office of the town. The term "owner" shall be deemed
to include any person who harbors a dog, except on a temporary emergency
basis to protect and aid a stray or lost dog. In the event that the
owner of a dog is under 18 years of age, the custodial parent or guardian,
or head of the household in which said minor principally resides,
shall be deemed to be the owner of such dog for the purposes of this
article.
An individual, corporation, partnership, unincorporated association
or other organized group of persons, municipality or other legal entity.
Any dog owned or harbored by any state or municipal police
department or any state or federal law enforcement agency which has
been trained to assist law enforcement officers and is actually being
used for such work.
Every device in, upon or by which any person or property
is or may be transported or drawn by any power, including muscular
power, and shall include but shall not be limited to bicycles, motorcycles,
automobiles, trucks, snowmobiles, coaches, wagons, platforms and trailers.
It shall be a violation of this article for
the owner of any dog to permit or allow such dog:
A.
To be at large;
B.
To engage in habitual loud howling, barking, crying
or whining, or any other behavior which unreasonably disturbs the
comfort or repose, or causes damage or destruction to real or personal
property, of any person other than the owner of such dog or a member
of the owner's household residing with the owner or a guest of such
owner;
C.
To commit a nuisance by defecating or urinating upon
public property or upon the premises of any person other than the
owner of such dog;
D.
To chase, threaten, harass, annoy, intimidate or alarm
any person or to place any person in reasonable apprehension of bodily
harm or injury, unless such person is unlawfully on the owner's premises
or in the owner's residence or such person is threatening the safety
of the owner's person, family, guests or property, or any person lawfully
on the owner's property or in the owner's residence; or
E.
To habitually chase or run alongside of moving vehicles,
horses or pedestrians lawfully using the public highways.
This article may be enforced by any dog control
officer, peace officer when acting pursuant to his special duties,
or police officer in the employ of or under contract to the town,
all of which officers shall be deemed "enforcement officers" for the
purposes of this article.
A.
Any dog which appears to any enforcement officer to be in violation of this article or Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law of New York State, may be seized in accordance with the provisions of § 118 thereof.
B.
Every dog so seized shall be held for a redemption
period of 10 days from the date of seizure, or in the event that the
owner of such dog can be identified and notified of such seizure within
such period as required by § 118, Subdivision 6, of the
Agriculture and Markets Law, 10 days from the date of such notification,
whichever occurs last. This provision modified the redemption periods
set forth in § 118 of the Agriculture and Markets Law.
C.
Every dog so seized shall be properly fed, watered,
sheltered and given necessary medical treatment by the town so long
as such dog is in the possession and control of any officer, employee,
contractor or agent of the town.
D.
Every dog so seized may be redeemed by any person
producing proof of his, her or its ownership or authority for possession
of, such dog, a current valid New York State license for such dog
(which may also be accepted as proof of ownership, and an identification
tag for such dog bearing the dog's New York State identification number
upon payment of the impoundment fee set forth in § 118 of
the Agriculture and Markets Law and any medical expenses incurred
by the town for the safety or welfare of the dog or the public.
Any dog seized by the town which is unredeemed at the end of the redemption period set forth in § 74-9 becomes the property of the town. Any unredeemed dog may, at the discretion of the Dog Control Officer, be held for adoption for a period not to exceed 30 days. Unredeemed dogs may be adopted pursuant to the following provisions and conditions:
A.
The person applying to adopt any such dog, hereinafter
called the "applicant," shall be a resident of, and legal age to license
a dog in, New York State, and shall complete an application for adoption
on a form provided by the town which shall contain the following:
(1)
The name, address, telephone number, age and the township
and county of residence of the applicant:
(2)
A statement that the applicant:
(a)
Has sufficient means to properly feed, house
and care for the dog to be adopted, hereinafter called the "dog";
(b)
Will comply with all laws, ordinances, rules
and regulations relating to the applicant's ownership of the dog in
effect in the town, village or city of applicant's residence;
(c)
Will not knowingly allow, sell or give the dog
to be used in research purposes.
B.
Upon approval of an application for adoption, the
applicant shall produce the following prior to obtaining possession
of the dog from the town:
Any dog unredeemed at the expiration of the appropriate redemption period, or if the dog is thereafter held for adoption, unredeemed or unadopted at the end of the adoption period set forth in § 74-9 hereof, as same may be extended, shall be euthanized. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, any dog in the possession or control of the town which has an illness, disease or injury which in the opinion of a licensed veterinarian, or an injury which in the opinion of any two enforcement officers, is eminently fatal, shall be euthanized.
A.
Any person who observes a violation of this article
or of § 119 of the Agriculture and Markets Law may notify
any enforcement officer of such violation, or may, pursuant to Article
100 of the Criminal Procedure Law, execute and file an information
with a justice of the Justice Court of the town, charging any person
alleged to have committed such violation with such violation. Any
Dog Control Officer of the town, when notified of an alleged violation
as aforesaid, or when such violation occurs in his presence, shall
immediately investigate the circumstances thereof and shall, pursuant
to the State Criminal Procedure Law, execute and file an information
with a Justice and the Justice Court of the town, charging any person
whom he has probable cause to believe has committed a violation of
this article, with such violation. Any information so filed shall
serve as the basis for the prosecution of the person named therein
as defendant in accordance with the State Criminal Procedure Law.
B.
Any enforcement officer who observes a violation of
this article committed in his presence, or who has probable cause
to believe that a violation of this article has occurred, may issue
and serve upon the person whom such officer has probable cause to
believe has committed such violation, an appearance ticket pursuant
to § 150.20 of the State Criminal Procedure Law, requiring
that person's appearance in the Justice Court of the town.
A.
Every prosecution for an alleged violation of this
article shall be conducted in accordance with the requirement of the
Criminal Procedure Law of the State of New York for the prosecution
of the "violation," as that term is defined in the Penal Law of the
State of New York.
B.
Any person convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction
of a violation of this article shall be subject to the same penalties
as a person who is found guilty of a violation under the Penal Law
of the State of New York as specifically set forth therein.
C.
In addition to the penalties provided above, the Town
Board may also maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the
town in any court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with,
or to restrain by injunction any violation of, this law.
Nothing in this article shall be deemed to vary or modify those provisions of Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law relating to identification, licensing and euthanization, and where there is a conflict, the provisions of Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law shall control, except to the extent that the town can lawfully supersede or modify same by local law, in which event the provisions of this article shall control.
