[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Taylor as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-12-1997 by Ord. No. 190]
This chapter shall be known as the "Curbing
of Pets and the Responsibility of Pet Owners For the Removal of All
Animal Waste Ordinance."
Pursuant to its authority under 8 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 1202(3) to impose fines and penalties; pursuant to its
authority under 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 1202(4) to prohibit and remove
any nuisance in the streets of the Borough; pursuant to its authority
under 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 1202(5) to make such regulations as
may be necessary for the health, safety, morals, general welfare and
cleanliness and the beauty, convenience, comfort and safety of the
Borough of Taylor; pursuant to its authority under 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 1202(7)
to make regulations relative to the accumulation of manure, compost
and the like; pursuant to its authority under 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 1202(9)
to prohibit or regulate, by ordinance, the running at large of dogs,
cats, and/or other pets; pursuant to its authority under 8 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 1202(12) to regulate the streets, public squares, common
grounds, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, culverts and drains of the Borough
of Taylor; and pursuant to its authority under 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 1203
to make and adopt any ordinance necessary for the proper management,
care and control of the Borough of Taylor and its finances, as well
as the maintenance of the peace, good government, safety and welfare
of the Borough of Taylor, the Taylor Borough Council hereby enacts
the within chapter. It is the desire and intent of the Taylor Borough
Council to ensure that the health, safety, morals, general welfare
and cleanliness and beauty, convenience, comfort and safety of the
Borough of Taylor and its residents is in the best possible condition
for both safety and financial reasons. Therefore, in order to protect
its citizens, the Taylor Borough Council enacts the within chapter.
The following definitions shall apply in the
interpretation and enforcement of this chapter:
Any fecal matter, urine, vomit or other waste byproduct generated
by any pet within the Borough of Taylor.
The Borough of Taylor, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, the
Mayor of the Borough of Taylor, the Borough Council of Taylor and
any duly authorized agent of any of the above.
Any public street, alley, sidewalk, passageway, lawn, bypath,
play area, park, road, roadway, yard, property or any place whatsoever
where people congregate or walk or upon any public property whatsoever
owned, operated by or under the control of the Borough of Taylor.
The requirement that any pet within the Borough of Taylor
is to be restrained by a leash or other appropriate device or control
so that said pet cannot stray beyond the premises on which it is secured,
or under the reasonable control of the owner, custodian or keeper
of any pet within the Borough of Taylor.
Any individual, partnership, corporation or association who
cares for, houses, feeds, is the record owner of, or is in control
of any pet within the Borough of Taylor and includes custodians and
keepers.
Any "animal" as defined by Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged
Dictionary of the English Language (1989 Edition) and includes, by
way of illustration and not by means of limitation, dogs, cats, birds,
rabbits, and rodents.
All property within the Borough of Taylor which is not public
property and which is owned, operated or under the control of private
individuals, persons, partnerships, corporations or other associations,
whether said private individuals, persons, partnerships, corporations
or other associations are residents of the Borough of Taylor or are
not residents of the Borough of Taylor.
Requirements for the curbing of pets and the
responsibility of the pet owners for the removal of all animal waste
while pets are on public streets or public property and while pets
are on private property without the express permission of the owners
of private property within the Borough of Taylor, shall be as follows:
A.
Any person who owns, harbors, keeps, or is in charge
of any pet within or frequenting the Borough shall not allow such
pet to run at large and shall not permit such pet to be unattended
within the Borough and shall require said pet to be restrained by
a leash or other appropriate device of control so that it cannot stray
beyond the private property on which it is secured or under reasonable
physical control of some person. Such "curbing" shall be permitted
only on public streets, public grounds and on private property with
the express permission of the owner of such property.
B.
No owner, custodian or keeper of any pet within the
Borough of Taylor shall cause, suffer or allow such pet to soil, defile,
defecate on or commit any nuisance on any common thoroughfare, sidewalk,
passageway, bypath, play area, park or any place where people congregate
or walk upon any public property whatsoever within the Borough of
Taylor or upon any private property within the Borough of Taylor without
the permission of the owner of said property. In the event that any
pet shall defecate upon any area designated above, the person in charge
of said pet shall immediately remove all animal waste deposited by
the pet by any sanitary method.
C.
Any owner, custodian or keeper of any pet within the
Borough of Taylor who curbs such a pet shall immediately remove all
feces or other animal waste deposited by said pet by any sanitary
method and same shall be deposited in the owner's own garbage or disposed
of in some other sanitary method. The deposit shall be properly wrapped,
packaged and protected so as to prevent unsightly disposal, smell
or interference with the health and welfare of the residents of the
Borough of Taylor.
D.
No owner, custodian or keeper of any pet within the
Borough of Taylor shall walk, transport or maintain outside the owner's,
custodian's or keeper's own private property any such pet within the
Borough of Taylor unless that owner, custodian or keeper shall at
all times have upon his or her person the necessary utensils to immediately
remove all feces or other animal waste which is or may be deposited
by said pet while said pet is outside the private property of its
owner, custodian or keeper. For purposes of this section, "utensil"
shall mean, by way of illustration and not by means of limitation,
"pooper scooper," pet shovel, pet bucket and/or any other similar
devices to immediately remove any pet feces or animal waste which
may be deposited by said pet while said pet is upon any public property
whatsoever within the Borough of Taylor or upon any private property
within the Borough of Taylor without the permission of the owner of
said property.
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this chapter shall, upon conviction therefor, be sentenced to pay
a fine of $50, costs of prosecution for each violation and attorney's
fees, to the extent allowable under the law. Each violation of any
of the provisions of this chapter and each occurrence shall constitute
a separate offense.
[Adopted 3-22-2005 by Ord. No. 2-2005]
The Council of the Borough of Taylor, finding that excessive
levels of sound are detrimental to the physical, mental and social
well-being of the people, as well as to their comfort, living conditions,
general welfare and safety, and unreasonably interferes with a right
common to the general public, and being therefore a public health
and welfare hazard, hereby declares it to be necessary to provide
for the greater control and more effective regulation of excessive
sound and the sources of excessive sound within the Borough of Taylor.
It shall be illegal within the Borough of Taylor for any person
or persons to own, possess, harbor, or control any animal or bird
which makes any noise continuously and/or incessantly for a period
of 10 minutes or makes such noise intermittently for 1/2 hour or more
to the disturbance of any person any time of the day or night regardless
of whether the animal or bird is physically situated in or upon private
property, said noise being a nuisance; provided, that at the time
the animal or bird is making such noise no person is trespassing or
threatening to trespass upon private property in or upon which the
animal or bird is situated nor is there any other legitimate cause
which justifiably provoked the animal or bird.
This article shall not be deemed to prohibit or otherwise declare
unlawful any agricultural operations protected from nuisance suits
by Act No. 1982-133.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 3 P.S. § 951 et seq.
A.
Fines and penalties.
(1)
Any person, firm, or corporation who shall violate any provision
of this article, shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $600 for each offense, and on default of payment,
to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days.
B.
Civil action. Any person who violates or permits a violation of this
article, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding
before a Magisterial District Judge, shall pay a fine of not more
than $600 per violation, plus all court costs, including reasonable
attorney's fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement of
this article. Each day the violation exists shall constitute a separate
offense. In any case where a penalty for a violation has not been
timely paid, and the person against whom the penalty was imposed is
found to have been liable therefor in civil proceedings, the violator
shall be liable for the penalty imposed, including additional daily
penalties for attorney's fees incurred by the Borough in the
enforcement proceedings. If the violator neither pays nor timely appeals
the judgment, the Borough may enforce the judgment pursuant to the
applicable rules of civil procedure.
C.
Exemption. The Borough shall be exempt from the payment of costs
in any civil case brought to enforce this article.
D.
Equity. In addition to or in lieu of a civil action before a Magisterial
District Judge, the Borough may enforce this article in equity. The
appropriate officers or agents, including Borough Manager, of the
Borough are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief, including
injunctions, to enforce compliance herewith.
E.
Separate violations. Each day a violation occurs shall be a separate
offense.
F.
Reservation. The Borough reserves all rights to enforcement and remedies
under any nuisance ordinance or other law.
G.
Attorneys' fees. The reasonable attorneys' fees shall be
at the rate of $125 per hour.
