[R.O. 2012 §210.010; Ord. No. 2854 §1(A — B), 8-11-2003; Ord. No. 3454 §1, 4-20-2009]
For the purposes of this Chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this Section:
ADEQUATE CARE
Normal and prudent attention to the needs of an animal, including wholesome food, clean water, shelter, and health care as necessary to maintain good health in a specific species of animal.
ADEQUATE SHELTER
Structurally sound, properly ventilated and weather-proofed housing which is large enough to allow the animal housed in it to stand up, turn around and lie down; is equipped with bedding that will not absorb water and/or freeze; and will not exacerbate existing weather conditions by, for example, absorbing heat on hot sunny days or excessive size which would not retain body heat in winter. This adequate shelter must be located at least six (6) feet from side or rear property line.
AFFECTED WITH RABIES
Manifesting any of the characteristic symptoms of rabies as described in any standard medical textbook.
ANIMAL
Every living vertebrate except a human being.
AT LARGE
Off the premises of the owner, and not under the control of a competent person. All animals and domestic others shall be leashed at all times by a competent person.
AUCTION
Any place where animals are regularly bought, sold or traded.
BITE
Breaking of the skin caused by an animal.
CAT
Any male or female member of the domestic feline family.
CIRCUS
A commercial variety show featuring animal acts for public entertainment.
COMMERCIAL ANIMAL ESTABLISHMENT
Any pet shop, grooming shop, auction, riding school or stable, zoological park, circus, performing animal exhibition, or kennel.
COMPETENT PERSON
A human being who is capable of controlling and governing the animal in question.
DANGEROUS ANIMAL
Any animal with the following characteristics shall be classified as dangerous:
1. 
Any animal which has inflicted a severe or fatal injury on a human, on public or private property. The victim receiving severe injuries, or the victim's parent or guardian, must provide the Police Department with a signed physician's statement, documenting injury and treatment qualifying such as a severe injury, or sign an authorization for the release of such statement.
2. 
Any animal which has killed or injured a domestic animal, livestock or poultry without provocation, while off the owner's property.
3. 
Any dog owned or harbored primarily or in part for the purpose of dog fighting, or any dog trained for dog fighting.
4. 
Any animal which has bitten a human being, without provocation on public or private property other than the owner's.
5. 
Any animal which, while on the owner's property, has bitten, without provocation, a human being other than the owner.
6. 
Any animal which, when unprovoked, chases or approaches a person upon the streets, sidewalks, or any public grounds, or private property other than that of the owner, in a menacing fashion or apparent attitudes of attack, regardless of whether or not a person is injured by said animal.
7. 
Any animal with a known propensity, tendency or disposition to attack unprovoked, to cause injury, or to otherwise threaten the safety of human beings or domestic animals.
8. 
For the purposes of this Chapter and the definition of dangerous animal, in determining whether or not an animal has been provoked, Law Enforcement Officers and the Public Safety Committee shall take into consideration all of the circumstances surrounding the subject investigation to specifically include, but not necessarily limited to, whether or not the animal in question was guarding the property of its owner and whether or not the animal in question had been teased, aggravated or harmed by the victim or anyone with the victim at the time of the bite or attack. If it is determined that the animal in question was guarding property or had been hurt, teased or aggravated at the time of the incident, it shall be presumed that the animal was provoked.
DOG
Any male or female of the domestic canine family.
EXPOSED TO RABIES
Having been bitten or scratched by, or having fought or come in contact with an animal affected with rabies.
EUTHANIZE
To put to death in a humane manner.
FARM ANIMALS
Any animal which is normally considered domesticated but which is usually kept for purposes other than as a pet. This definition shall include, but not be limited to, cows, horses, pigs, goats, sheep and poultry.
FOWL
Any member of the avian species. This definition includes, but is not limited to, chickens, geese, ducks and pigeons.
GROOMING SHOP
A commercial establishment where animals are bathed, clipped, plucked, or otherwise groomed.
KENNEL
Any premises wherein any person engages in the business of boarding, breeding, buying, letting for hire, training for a fee, or selling dogs, cats, or other domestic animals including, but not limited to, fowl. Any premises having a combined total of four (4) or more dogs, cats or other domestic animals including, but not limited to, fowl, over the age of four (4) months is subject to kennel regulations.
OWNER
In addition to its ordinary meaning, any person who keeps or harbors an animal or professes to be owning, keeping, or harboring an animal.
PERFORMING ANIMAL EXHIBITION
Any spectacle, display, act, or event, other than circuses, in which animals are used.
PET
Any animal kept for pleasure rather than utility. Hunting dogs are included in the pet category.
PET SHOP
Any person, partnership, or corporation, whether operated separately or in connection with another business enterprise, except for a licensed kennel, that buys, sells, or boards any species of animal.
POULTRY
Domestic fowls, including, but not limited to, chickens, turkeys, ducks or geese, raised for meat or eggs.
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
That committee which is appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Board of Aldermen which shall have the responsibility of determining whether or not a given animal is a "dangerous animal" within the meaning of this Chapter.
RIDING SCHOOL OR STABLE
Any place which has available for hire, boarding, and/or riding instruction, any horse, pony, donkey, mule, or burro.
SEVERE INJURY
Any physical injury to a human or domestic animal, resulting directly from an animal's bite and/or actions which result in broken bones or lacerations requiring stitches or in-patient hospitalization, or any injury which requires two (2) or more visits for medical attention to a physician or veterinarian, shall be documented by a signed physician's or veterinarian's statement.
VETERINARY HOSPITAL
Any establishment maintained and operated by a licensed veterinarian for surgery, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and injuries of animals.
WILD ANIMAL
Any live non-human primate (monkeys, chimpanzees, apes, gorillas and lemurs), kinkajou, coatamuni, raccoon, fox, skunk, pigeon, poisonous reptiles, venomous snakes, constrictor reptiles, crocodilian reptiles two (2) feet or more in length including alligators, crocodiles, and caimans, bear, wolf, wolf hybrids, coyote, coyote hybrids (coydogs), cougar, leopard, jaguar, tiger, lion, lynx, bobcat, ocelot, or any crossbreeds of the above. Wild animals does not include insects, fish, avian species, or other reptiles, mammals, or animals not listed above.
ZOOLOGICAL PARK
Any facility, other than a pet shop or kennel, displaying or exhibiting one (1) or more species of non-domesticated animals operated by a person, partnership, corporation, or government agency.
[R.O. 2012 §210.020]
A. 
Except as hereby provided, in all residential zoning districts, domestic pets may be kept by the occupant of a dwelling unit.
B. 
The parent or guardian of a minor child is responsible for the adequate care of any animal owned by, in the control of, or harbored by said minor child.
C. 
No owner shall fail to provide his/her animals with sufficient good and wholesome food, water, adequate shelter and veterinary care when required, and humane care and treatment. No owner shall permit any cat, dog or domestic other to stay outdoors without said adequate shelter.
D. 
No person shall cruelly ill treat, torment, overload, overwork, or otherwise abuse an animal or cause, instigate, or permit any dogfight, cockfight, bullfight, or combat between animals or between animals and humans.
E. 
No person shall intentionally or purposely kill dogs, cats or domestic others in any manner except humane euthanasia. This does not apply to necessary action taken in the defense of oneself or another.
F. 
No owner shall purposely abandon any animal in any place without making provisions for its adequate care.
G. 
Any person who, as the operator of a motor vehicle, strikes a domestic animal, shall immediately report such injury or death to the animal's owner. In the event the owner cannot be ascertained and located such operator shall at once report the accident to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
H. 
No person shall expose any known poisonous substance, whether mixed with food or not, so that the same shall be liable to be eaten by an animal, provided that it shall not be unlawful for a person to expose, on his/her own property, common rat poison mixed only with vegetable substances. City Health Officials are exempt from this requirement.
I. 
Disposal Of Fecal Matter.
1. 
All fecal accumulations in any pen, run, cage or yard where any animal is kept shall be removed and disposed of in such a manner as to prevent the breeding of flies and creation of offensive, disagreeable or noxious odors or other nuisance conditions.
2. 
Any person having physical possession and control of any animal, whether on their property, someone else's property or in a public place including, but not limited to, streets, sidewalks, parking lots and public parks, shall remove fecal matter deposited by the animal.
[R.O. 2012 §210.030; Ord. No. 4116 § 1, 6-12-2017]
A. 
No person or business shall keep any wild or dangerous animal for display or for exhibition purposes, whether gratuitously or for a fee. This Section shall not be construed to apply to zoological parks, performing animal exhibitions or circuses or those exhibitions of wild animals that have received and maintain a permit from the United States Department of Agriculture.
B. 
No person shall keep or permit to keep any wild animal as a pet.
[R.O. 2012 §210.040]
Honey bees may be kept only in zoning district "NU" and only after obtaining a conditional use permit.
[R.O. 2012 §210.050]
A. 
No performing animal exhibition or circus shall be permitted in which animals are induced or encouraged to perform through the use of chemical, mechanical, electrical, or manual devices in a manner which will cause, or is likely to cause, physical injury or suffering.
B. 
All equipment used on a performing animal shall fit properly and be in good working condition.
[R.O. 2012 §210.060]
Every person who owns, controls, manages, possesses any dog, cat or domestic other, or who permits a dog, cat or domestic other to come or remain in or about any home, place, business or other premises owned or controlled by such person, shall purchase an I.D. tag with the animal's name, owner's name, address, area code and phone number, and fasten it securely to the collar or harness of the animal. A rabies tag shall also be considered an I.D. tag if it is issued by a licensed veterinarian.
[R.O. 2012 §210.070]
A. 
Every person who is responsible for any puppy or kitten or domestic other shall have such puppy or kitten or domestic other vaccinated by a veterinarian against rabies before the puppy or kitten or domestic other reaches six (6) months of age, but not before it reaches three (3) months of age.
B. 
Every person who is responsible for every cat, dog, domestic other, puppy and kitten shall maintain current vaccination for rabies, by a veterinarian. No cat, dog or ferret shall be exempted from this Article due to advanced age. Domestic others are required to have anti-rabies vaccinations if there is a commercial vaccine available for that species.
C. 
When a veterinarian tag is procured, the owner shall fasten it securely to the collar or harness of the animal.
D. 
The veterinarian tag will be clearly stamped with the year in which the anti-rabies vaccine was given to the animal, and a figure indicating the number of the entry on the animal register.
E. 
The veterinarian tag should be attached to a leather or nylon collar or harness and shall be worn at all times. Veterinarian tags will be changed whenever an updated anti-rabies vaccine is given, and the new tag should be exchanged on the collar or harness for the old one. Should the current tag become lost or defaced, a new one can be purchased from the attending veterinarian or any other licensed veterinarian if the vaccination registration paper is presented to their office.
F. 
Any new resident of Union must comply with this Section within thirty (30) days of occupancy.