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.
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.
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.
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.
No person shall own, harbor, maintain or control a wild/exotic
animal or hybrids of wild/exotic animals within Manheim Township.
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.
The owner of an animal which has been detained and impounded
may reclaim his animal upon payment of a seizure fee as established
from time to time by resolution of the Commissioners of the Township
and upon payment of all other reasonable expenses and costs incurred
by the keeper of the animal shelter by reason of the detention, impoundment
and maintenance of the animal, provided that such expenses and costs
shall not exceed a per-day maximum as established from time to time
by resolution of the Commissioners. The owner shall pay the seizure
fee to the Township. 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.
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 keeper of an approved shelter may either destroy the animal in a humane manner or sell the animal, provided that no animal shall be sold for vivisection, or put the animal up for adoption. The proceeds derived from the sale of an animal, after deduction of the seizure fee and the reasonable expenses and costs incurred because of its detention, shall be paid to the County Treasurer as required by the Dog Law. The Township shall pay an impoundment fee established
from time to time by resolution to the keeper of an approved shelter
for the keeping of an animal which is unclaimed and subsequently destroyed.
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 insure 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. 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.
Compensation of the Animal Control Officer(s) shall be established
by resolution of the Commissioners appointing a person or persons
to that position and by resolution from time to time thereafter.
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.