Borough of Danville, PA Animals

Any person who owns, harbors, keeps or is in charge of any dog within or frequenting the Borough shall not permit such dog to be unattended within the Borough and shall require said dog to be restrained by a leash or other appropriate device of control so that it cannot stray beyond the premises on which it is secured, or under reasonable control of some person, which for the purpose of this article shall be "curbing." 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.

§ 81-2 Removal of feces.

Any person who curbs such a dog shall immediately remove all feces deposited by such dog by any sanitary method, and the same shall be deposited in the owner's garbage or disposed of in some other sanitary method. The deposit shall be properly wrapped, packaged or protected so as to prevent unsightly disposal, smell or interference with the health and welfare of the community.

§ 81-3 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 1-9-2018 by Ord. No. 547]

Any person or persons convicted of violating this article shall be subject to a fine of $75, plus the costs of prosecution, for the first violation, and of not more than $500 for the second and each subsequent violation, together with the costs of prosecution.

Article II Keeping of Animals

[Adopted 5-11-1993 by Ord. No. 359 (Ch. 43, Art. II, of the 1975 Code)]

§ 81-4 Definitions.

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

ANIMAL

Any domestic animal or fowl, any household pet or any wild animal.

DANGEROUS ANIMAL

Any animal creating, threatening or risking a hazardous, perilous or unsafe condition. This term includes but is not limited to bobcats, wolves or crocodiles, or any other animal which presents a danger to life or limb.

DOMESTIC ANIMAL

Any animal normally or ordinarily domesticated or raised in the Danville area and climate as livestock or for work or breeding purposes, or normally or ordinarily kept as a household pet.

DOMESTIC FOWL

Any of the several usually gallinaceous birds which may be raised for food purposes, such as grouse, pheasants, turkeys, partridges, ducks, geese, hens, chickens and roosters.

HOUSEHOLD PET

Any dog, cat, bird, gerbil, hamster or other domestic animal normally and ordinarily kept in or permitted to be at large in the dwelling of its owner. This term specifically excludes wild animals, such as skunks, foxes, raccoons, ground hogs and squirrels, or dangerous animals, such as bobcats or wolves, despite the fact that the owner or keeper of such wild animal or dangerous animal desires to keep it as a pet. The term "household pet" shall include Vietnamese potbellied pigs which are smaller than 41 inches in length and 21 inches in shoulder height and weigh no more than 90 pounds.

LARGE ANIMAL

Any wild or domestic animal of the family equidae, the family bovidae, the family suidae or the family tayassuidae, including but not limited to, horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs, hogs and swine.

PERSON(S)

Any individual, partnership, company, association, society, trust, corporation or other group or entity, whether an owner or lessee of residences, commercial or institutional establishments.

[Amended 11-8-2011 by Ord. No. 507]

SMALL ANIMAL

Any small domestic animal such as a rabbit, hare or chinchilla.

WILD ANIMAL

Any animal, including any mammal, bird or reptile, not normally or ordinarily domesticated; not normally or ordinarily raised in the Danville area and climate as livestock or for work or breeding purposes; or not a household pet as defined above.

§ 81-5 Certain animals prohibited.

It shall be unlawful for any person to keep any dangerous animal, any wild animal, any large animal or any domestic fowl at any place within the Borough of Danville.

Traveling circuses, presenting a limited number of performances, are specifically exempted from the application of this article.

§ 81-6 Regulation of domestic animals.

It shall be unlawful for any person to keep any domestic animals, except household pets other than as provided in this article:

Small animals shall be kept confined in quarters no part of which shall be closer than 15 feet from the exterior limits of any dwelling.

Such owner shall be required to follow such procedures and practices as to restrict the number of such domesticated animals to be kept, and as to sanitation and odor control, to ensure that no nuisance shall be created and no threat to the health of persons living on the premises where such domestic animals are kept, or to the health and quiet enjoyment of persons living elsewhere, shall be created.

The keeper of every such animal shall confine the same in an enclosure sufficient to prevent such animal from running at large, and such enclosure shall be of a size conducive to good sanitary practices, and adequate and sanitary drainage facilities shall be provided.

Every keeper of any animal shall cause the litter and droppings therefrom to be collected daily in a container or receptacle that when closed shall be rodentproof and flytight, and after every such collection shall cause such container or receptacle to be kept closed. At least twice a week, every such keeper shall cause all litter and droppings so collected to be disposed of in such manner as not to permit the presence of fly larvae or malodorous condition.

Every keeper of any animal shall cause all feed provided therefor to be stored and kept in a rodentproof and flytight building, box, container or receptacle.

§ 81-7 Household pet.

If any such pet shall be kept in a dwelling owned or occupied by its owner, such owner shall be required to follow such procedures and practices, as to the number of such pets to be kept there, and as to sanitation, to ensure that no public nuisance shall be created or maintained and no threat to the health of persons living elsewhere than in such dwelling shall be created.

If any such pet shall be kept in an enclosure outside such dwelling, the provisions of § 81-6 of this article, insofar as the same applies to small animals, shall be applicable to the keeping of such household pet.

This article shall not apply to the regulation of noise as such is provided in Chapter 161 of the Code of the Borough of Danville.

§ 81-8 Violation of state law.

Any violation of this article that would also constitute a violation of any law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall be prosecuted under such law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and not under this article.

The defendant in any action for violation of this article shall have the burden, by a fair preponderance of the evidence, of proving the existence and applicability of any such law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in order to constitute a valid defense to a prosecution under this article.

§ 81-9 Violations and penalties. [1]

Any person who shall violate any provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by a fine of not more than $600 and costs of such proceedings, or upon default of payment of such fines and costs, by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not more than 30 days. The continuation of such violation for each successive day shall constitute a separate offense, and the person or persons allowing or permitting the continuation of the violation may be punished as provided above for each separate offense.

[1]

Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).

§ 81-10 Enforcement and administration.

[Added 12-12-2000 by Ord. No. 420]

It shall be the duty of the Borough Health Officer and the Danville Borough Police Department to enforce the terms of this article and secure the compliance with the requirements thereof.