[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Manheim 4-10-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-3 (Part 5, Ch. 4, of the 1976 Code of Ordinances). Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Manheim Township Animal Control Ordinance."
As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings:
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER
The person(s) appointed by Manheim Township, as provided in § 167-14, who shall have the duty of enforcing the provisions of this chapter and the provisions of the Pennsylvania Dog Law.[1]
ANIMALS
Includes all mammals, birds, fowl and reptiles normally or ordinarily domesticated (including household pets such as dogs and cats) or raised in this area or climate as livestock or for work or for breeding purposes. Such term shall not include fish.
AT LARGE
Being upon any public highway, street, park or any other public land, or upon property of another person other than the owner, and not being accompanied by and under the control of the owner or any other person having custody of such animal.
DANGEROUS DOG
Any or all of the following:
A. 
Any dog which bites, inflicts injury, assaults (which assaults shall include dogs at large approaching any person upon the streets, sidewalks or other public grounds or places in a threatening or terrorizing manner without provocation), or otherwise attacks a human being without provocation;
B. 
Any dog which is deemed a dangerous dog under and pursuant to the Pennsylvania Dog Law.[2]
OWNER
Includes every person, proprietor, corporation, partnership or association that actually owns an animal or who has an animal in his or its care or permits an animal to remain on or about any premises occupied by him or it. The parent or guardian of any minor claiming ownership of any animal shall also be deemed the owner of such animal.
WILD/EXOTIC ANIMAL
A wild, dangerous, or undomesticated animal or venomous reptile which is not of a species customarily used as an ordinary house pet or livestock and which would ordinarily be confined to a zoo or which would ordinarily be found in the wilderness of this or any other country or which otherwise causes a reasonable person to be fearful of bodily harm or property damage, irrespective of its actual or asserted state of tameness or domestication. This definition includes animals bred or raised in captivity and hybrids of wild/exotic animals, but not fish or birds.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 3 P.S. § 459-101 et seq.
[2]
Editor's Note: See 3 P.S. § 459-101 et seq.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person(s), corporation, partnership or other entity whatsoever to harbor, care for, shelter or maintain any animal in such a manner as to disturb or unduly annoy the public through the animal's noise, barking, smell, mischief or other harmful propensities. All animal pens or other areas in which animals are kept shall be maintained in a sanitary condition free of offensive, obnoxious or foul odors.
B. 
It shall be unlawful to own, possess, harbor, control or keep any animal which makes noise repeatedly for a period of 15 minutes during the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. or repeatedly for a period of five minutes during the hours of 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., regardless of whether the animal is physically situated in or upon private property. Said noise shall constitute a nuisance, provided that, at the time the animal is making such noise, no person is trespassing or threatening to trespass upon private property in or upon which the animal is legitimately situated, nor is there any other legitimate cause which justifiably provoked the animal.
C. 
No owner, custodian or keeper of any animal shall allow or permit any such animal to deposit excrement (defecate) upon any property not owned or leased by the owner, custodian or keeper of such animal, without immediately picking up such excrement. This subsection shall not apply to horses being used for transportation in the public streets or alleys or other public property within the Township. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to Seeing Eye dogs or to any service dogs assisting physically challenged persons or in training to assist the physically challenged.
All dogs and cats, to include outside cats, in Manheim Township shall be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian in accordance with the requirements set forth in the state rabies law.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 167-5, Dangerous dogs, of the 2013 Code, which immediately following this section, was deleted at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
No person shall own, harbor, maintain or control a wild/exotic animal or hybrids of wild/exotic animals within Manheim Township.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for the owner or person having custody of any animal or the parent or guardian of any minor owning or having custody of any animal to allow the animal to go beyond the boundaries of their premises or to run at large over the streets or public grounds or upon the property of anyone other than the owner or person having custody of such animal. It shall also be unlawful for the owner or person having custody of such animal to permit such animal to pose a danger to pedestrians using adjacent sidewalks and streets.
B. 
It shall be the duty of the owner, custodian or keeper of any dog traveling on the streets or public grounds to have the animal on a leash at all times.
A. 
It shall be the duty of the Animal Control Officer or any police officer of the Township to seize any animal running at large and to convey it to an approved animal shelter, as provided in § 167-16, where it shall be detained and impounded in a humane manner.
B. 
Upon seizure, the Animal Control Officer or Police Officer of the Township shall complete a seizure form approved by the Chief of Police. Upon detention and impoundment, the keeper of the approved shelter to which the animal is delivered shall make a complete registry entering the breed, color, and sex of the animal and indicate whether the animal is licensed. The registry shall be made upon a form approved by the Chief of Police. If the animal is licensed, the keeper of the approved shelter used shall communicate with the Treasurer of Lancaster County and obtain and enter upon the registry the name and address of the owner and number of the license tag.
If the owner of a detained animal can be identified by license tag or other means, the owner shall be given immediate notice, either in person or by phone or by both regular and certified mail, of the detention and impoundment by the keeper of the shelter to which the animal was delivered. If the owner is unknown, written notice of the impoundment shall be posted at the shelter and at the Manheim Township Police Department for a period of 10 days from the day of seizure, describing the animal, the place and time of seizure and the location of impoundment.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
The owner of an animal which has been detained and impounded may reclaim his animal upon payment of a penalty of $50 to the political subdivision whose Police Officers made the seizure and detention and payment of all reasonable expenses incurred by reason of its detention to the detaining parties. The expenses and costs incurred by the shelter keeper due to impoundment and maintenance of the animal may be paid by the owner to the shelter keeper in a manner determined by the shelter keeper. All such fees and costs paid by an owner shall be entered on the redemption portion of a form approved by the Chief of Police. In no event shall any animal required to be licensed by law be released from detention and impoundment until it has been licensed. Payment of the seizure fee, expenses and costs shall not bar prosecution of the owner for any violation of law.
Notwithstanding § 167-8, if an animal is found at large and its owner can be identified and located, the animal need not be detained and impounded but may, instead, be taken to and turned over to the owner. In such case, the Animal Control Officer or police officer who seized the animal shall complete a registry as required in § 167-8. The owner, whose animal is seized without detention and impoundment, shall be subject to pay the seizure fee in the manner as set forth in § 167-10, except that, if circumstances warrant, payment of the seizure fee may be delayed for a period of 15 days. Use of the procedure set forth in this section shall not bar a prosecution for any violation of law.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
It shall be the duty of the keeper of an approved animal shelter to keep detained and impounded animals for a period of at least 10 days. If, after 10 days have elapsed from the giving or posting of notice as required in § 167-9, a detained and impounded animal has not been claimed, the animal shall be dispensed of in accordance with the provisions of the Dog Law at 3 P.S. § 459-302.
In the event an animal bites any person or other animal:
A. 
The owner or custodian of the animal shall:
(1) 
Immediately notify the Manheim Township police of the incident and complete an animal bite report on such form as the Animal Control Officer or Police Officer shall prescribe;
(2) 
Quarantine the animal for a period of 10 days to observe for signs of rabies at such location and under such conditions as are imposed or required by the Animal Control Officer;
(3) 
At the expiration of 10 days following the day of the biting incident, have the animal examined by a veterinarian. A certificate of examination shall be filed with the Animal Control Officer on such form as the Animal Control Officer shall prescribe, completed and signed by the veterinarian. The certificate of examination shall be filed not more than 14 days following the bite incident;
(4) 
If the animal dies within the ten-day quarantine period, the animal's head shall be removed by a veterinarian and tested for rabies by the appropriate state laboratory or a laboratory designated by the commonwealth for that purpose; and
(5) 
All costs, including laboratory preparation, laboratory examination, quarantine and veterinary examination of the animal shall be borne by the owner or custodian of the animal.
B. 
The Animal Control Officer shall have the right and duty to seize any animal that bites a human or animal if he determines such seizure is necessary to ensure that the animal shall be quarantined. If any owner or custodian shall refuse any order of the Animal Control Officer to quarantine the animal and to have it examined by a veterinarian, the Animal Control Officer shall take the action necessary to comply with Subsection A(2) and (3) hereof, and the owner or custodian of the animal shall be liable to the Township for all costs thereof, which may be collected as an additional penalty for violation of this section.
C. 
The owner of any animal placed under quarantine shall not sell, exchange, lease, lend, give away, allow to stray, remove or allow to be removed such animal until the quarantine has been revoked.
D. 
Any animal under quarantine shall be muzzled while outside the confines or structure specified by the Animal Control Officer for the quarantine.
E. 
If a biting incident occurs that involves an unclaimed or stray animal, the owner of which cannot be identified, the Animal Control Officer shall attempt to capture the animal or destroy it if necessary. The same procedures as outlined in this section concerning quarantine and veterinary examination of the offending animal shall be followed, with the costs borne by the Township.
The Commissioners may, by resolution, appoint an Animal Control Officer(s), who shall have the duty of enforcing the provisions of this chapter and the Dog Law.[1] The term of the appointment shall be indefinite and subject to termination by the Commissioners on 10 days' written notice. The Animal Control Officer(s), in the performance of the duties under the provisions of this chapter, shall be empowered to take all action necessary to enforce this chapter and shall be subject to control by the Chief of Police of Manheim Township. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed so as to limit any Police Officer of Manheim Township in enforcing any of the provisions of this chapter or the Dog Law.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 3 P.S. § 459-101 et seq.
Animals seized may be impounded only at shelters approved by resolution of the Commissioners. An approved shelter shall comply with all requirements of the dog shelter rules as set forth in 7 Pa. Code § 23 et seq. The keeper of the approved shelter shall fill out disposition information upon a form approved by the Chief of Police and submit it to the Police Department on a timely basis, indicating the final disposition of each animal seized within the Township and turned over to such keeper for detention and impoundment.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred by the Township in the enforcement proceedings. Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction, or by proceedings by summons on default of the payment of the fine or penalty imposed and the costs, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day that such violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement under this section, the Township may enforce this chapter in equity in the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County.