[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Newtown as indicated in
article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted by the Legislative Council 3-7-2007 (Ord. No. 84)]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Newtown
Pet Control Ordinance."
The purpose of this article is to keep the public buildings
and other Town-owned properties (collectively, "Town property") free
of unsupervised and roaming pets and clean of animal waste. It is
not intended to override or repeal any existing regulation or policy
of the Newtown Park and Recreation Department that bans pets and horses
from Town parks.
No person shall bring into, permit, have or keep on Town property
any dog, cat, household pet or other animal, except:
A.
Dogs, cats or other animals outside of public buildings if held in
control by a leash or other similar restraint;
B.
Horses on established bridle trails;
C.
Service animals such as Seeing Eye dogs in public buildings; and
D.
Animals which, in conjunction with an event authorized by the Town
agency in control of the affected property, are permitted.
The unauthorized presence of any animal on Town property when
not under the control of a leash or similar restraint shall be prima
facie evidence of the violation of this article.
All persons bringing animals into or onto Town property shall
be responsible for cleaning up any solid waste and disposing of it
in an environmentally sound manner.
Any violation of this article shall be punishable by a fine
of $25 for the first occurrence; $50 for the second occurrence; and
$99 for each occurrence thereafter.
Nothing herein shall be construed to require the Town of Newtown
to post its property, nor shall the lack of such a posting be a defense
to a violation of this article.
[Adopted by the Legislative Council 3-7-2012]
In accordance with Connecticut General Statutes (C.G.S.) Section 22-339d, as amended, and C.G.S. Section 22-332d, the Town of Newtown (Town) enacts this article and its policy on euthanasia to regulate the keeping of cats as defined in § 113-9, both in the community and at the Animal Control Center, and to establish a procedure for the Animal Control Officer to follow incident to his duties with respect thereto. The purpose of this article is to promote the public health and welfare relating to the control of the spread of the rabies virus, animal overpopulation, and property damage as it relates to cats.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A cat that has been tamed and is or has been kept by humans
as a pet.
A free-roaming domestic cat that is not owned.
Any person or organization harboring, regularly feeding or
having in his or its possession any feral cat. Refusal to permit any
Animal Control Officer to impound a feral cat shall be deemed evidence
of keeping.
A.
Within
one year of the adoption of this article, a keeper of feral cats within
the Town shall register with the Animal Control Officer for the Town.
B.
When a
keeper registers with the Animal Control Officer, the Animal Control
Officer shall provide information to the keeper regarding the proper
care and management of feral cats.
C.
A keeper
of feral cats shall provide for the vaccination of such cats against
rabies pursuant to C.G.S. Section 22-339b.
D.
A keeper
of feral cats shall provide for the sterilization of such cats. A
keeper shall be considered an eligible owner for purposes of the animal
population control program established under C.S.G. Sections 22-380e
to 22-380m, inclusive, provided such cats are adopted from a municipal
pound.
A.
The Animal
Control Officer may take into custody any cat found to be damaging
property other than property of its owner or keeper or causing an
unsanitary, dangerous or unreasonably offensive condition, unless
such cat can be identified as under the care of its owner or a registered
keeper of feral cats.
B.
Any cat
brought to the Animal Control Facility by a Newtown resident and requested
by such resident to be taken into custody by the facility may be accepted
by the Animal Control Officer. Such cat may be made available for
adoption in accordance with the “Welfare Policy for Impounded
Animals.”
C.
The Animal
Control Officer shall immediately notify the owner or keeper of any
cat so taken, if known, of its impoundment. If the owner or keeper
of any such cat is unknown, the Animal Control Officer shall immediately
tag or employ such other suitable means of identification of the cat
and shall promptly cause a description of such cat to be published
once in the lost and found column of a newspaper having a circulation
in the Town.
D.
If such
cat is not claimed by and released to the owner or keeper within 14
days after the date of publication, the Animal Control Officer, upon
finding such cat to be in satisfactory health, may make such cat available
for adoption to any person who satisfies such Officer that he is purchasing
it as a pet and that he can give it a good home and proper care. The
Animal Control Officer may retain possession of such cat for such
additional period of time as he may deem advisable in order to place
such cat as a pet.
E.
Any cat captured or impounded under the provisions of Subsection A of this section shall be redeemed by the owner or keeper thereof, or the agent of such owner or keeper, upon proper identification and presentation to the Animal Control Officer. An owner may redeem his cat(s) upon presentation of proper identification. A keeper may redeem feral cat(s) by showing his keeper registration certificate and upon the payment by such owner or keeper or his agent of:
F.
When the
owner or keeper of any such impounded cat fails to redeem such cat
within 24 hours after receiving notification to do so, or, where the
owner was unknown, within 24 hours after notification was effected
by means of publication in a newspaper, such owner or keeper shall
pay, in addition to such redemption fee and the cost of advertising,
the amount determined by the Animal Control Officer to be the full
cost of detention and care of such impounded cat.
A.
Any person who has violated § 113-10E of this article shall be fined $25 for each violation. Such fine is in addition to any fees collected as provided in §113-11 of this article. Each day that a violation occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense. The Animal Control Officer or his agent shall issue a notice of violation to the violator. Such notice of violation shall state the nature of the violation, the amount of the fine to be paid, and an answer date by which the fine must be paid. Unless a plea of not guilty is entered by the answer date given on the notice of violation, failure to pay the fine by the date provided in the notice shall cause the amount of the fine to triple. Payment shall be made to the Town of Newtown.
B.
Any owner or keeper of any impounded cat who fails to redeem such cat within 10 days after receiving notification to do so pursuant to this article shall be in violation of this article and shall be fined and issued a notice of violation in conformance with the procedure for a violation of § 113-10E as set forth in Subsection A above.
If a person who has been issued a citation does not make an uncontested payment of the fine specified by the citation to the Town within the time allowed under §§ 113-11 and 113-12 of this article, he shall follow the procedure in the Code of the Town of Newtown, § 104-18, Appeals procedure, Subsections B through E.
