[Ord. No. 135, 12-8-2020]
The following words, when used in this Chapter, shall have the
meanings set out herein:
All animals of the canine species, both male and female.
Any person having a right of property in a dog, or who keeps
or harbors a dog, or who has it in his/her care or acts as its custodian,
or who knowingly permits a dog to remain on or about any premises
owned or occupied by him/her.
Allowing a dog to be off the private premises of the owner
or keeper or his/her agent or servant and not on a leash or confined
to the arms, motor vehicle, trailer or other conveyance of the owner
or keeper, his/her agent or servant.
Physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death
or that causes serious disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment
of the function of any part of the body.
A person upon the premises of the owner or keeper of the
dog in question without license or privilege to be upon said premises.
Any dog running at large or a dog on the premises of its
owner or keeper but not confined to said premises by a leash, fence,
structure or other means that would prevent the dog from leaving such
premises.
Any of the following dogs:
Any dog, whether or not running at large and whether or not
unrestrained, that without provocation has bitten any person not a
trespasser causing serious physical injury to that person.
Any unrestrained dog, whether or not running at large, that
without provocation has attempted to bite any person not a trespasser
which would cause serious physical injury to that person.
Any unrestrained dog, whether or not running at large, that
without provocation has placed any person not a trespasser in apprehension
of immediate serious physical injury.
Any dog that has killed another dog, cat or other domestic animal
without provocation.
[Ord. No. 380 §§4, 5,
8, 8-14-2001]
A.
No
dog owner shall keep or harbor any dog above the age of six (6) months
within the City limits of Sparta, Missouri, unless a license therefore
has first been purchased. Licenses shall be issued by the City Clerk
of the City of Sparta, Missouri, for a fee of five dollars ($5.00)
each. All dogs shall be licensed within twenty (20) days of taking
possession thereof. All licenses automatically expire on the thirty-first
(31st) day of December next following their issuance and shall be
renewed on an annual basis not later than January fifteenth (15th)
of the following year.
B.
In
order to receive a license, all persons must present proof that the
dog has been vaccinated against rabies from a licensed veterinarian
for the period covered by the license. The City Clerk shall then issue
and deliver a suitable metallic tag to the owner of the dog. Duplicate
tags, upon proof that the original has been lost, shall be issued
for a fee of two dollars ($2.00).
C.
It
is hereby unlawful for any person to take a tag legally placed upon
a dog from that dog for any purposes; it is hereby unlawful for any
dog owner to keep or harbor any dog above the age of six (6) months
within the City limits of the City of Sparta, Missouri, unless a license
for said dog has been secured; it is hereby unlawful for any person
to abandon any dog within the corporate City limits of the City of
Sparta, Missouri, or to permit any dog to stray within the corporate
limits of the City of Sparta, Missouri, who is not secured upon a
leash.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or keeper of any dog to permit the same to run at large within the City of Sparta at any time. Any dog found without the tag provided in Section 205.020, and any dog found running at large, shall be impounded.
[CC 1982 §73.630]
No person shall keep any dog which, by frequent howling, barking,
baying or yelping, shall disturb the peace of the neighborhood.
[CC 1982 §73.630(1); Ord. No. 421, 1-10-2006; Ord. No. 135, 12-8-2020]
A.
It shall be unlawful to own, keep or harbor a vicious dog in the City of Sparta. A "vicious dog" is defined under Section 205.010 of the Sparta City Code.
B.
Violation of this Section shall be punished by a fine up to the sum
of five hundred dollars ($500.00) per vicious dog per day.
C.
In addition to the above penalties and any other penalties prescribed
by this Chapter, upon violation and conviction of the provisions of
this Section relating to vicious dogs, if it shall appear to the Judge
of the Municipal Court that it is necessary for the public safety
and welfare that the dog concerned be euthanized, the Judge shall
so order and the Chief of Police shall carry out said order.
[CC 1982 §73.620; Ord. No. 433, 12-12-2006]
No person shall keep a dog or dogs in any pen or enclosure on
property owned or controlled by him, the exterior boundary of which
pen or enclosure is closer than twenty-five (25) feet at the nearest
point to the dwelling of another, a church, school or place of business
of another; nor shall any person keep a dog or dogs within twenty-five
(25) feet of the dwelling of another, a church, school or place of
business of another. No animal shelters shall be allowed within the
City of Sparta except the City-owned impoundment.
It shall be the duty of the Animal Control Officer, the City Police and any other person of the City of Sparta, especially designated by the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor for such purpose, to take up any dog without the tag provided in Section 205.020, any dog running at large or any vicious dog in violation of Section 205.040 above and to impound the same. In effecting the capture of any dog, the officers aforesaid are authorized and directed to use traps, nets, tranquilizer guns or any other humane method.
Any officer performing duties under this Chapter shall be compensated
from the City Treasury as provided from time to time by the Board
of Aldermen. Such officer shall account to the City for all sums collected
from owners or keepers under this Chapter and pay same into the City
Treasury. Costs of feeding and keeping dogs impounded shall be paid
from the City Treasury.
Every officer impounding a dog under this Chapter shall, within
twenty-four (24) hours after such impounding, enter upon a registry
open to the public and in plain public view at the City Hall of the
City a description of such dog, including breed, color and approximate
size and the date apprehended and if the owner or keeper is known,
the name and address of such owner or keeper; or the owner or keeper
shall be given actual notice of the impoundment of such dog before
disposition of such dog.
[Ord. No. 380 §7, 8-14-2001; Ord. No. 423, 3-14-2006]
Any dog that is impounded by the City of Sparta, Missouri, may
be redeemed from the City within the time that said animal is held
by the City by paying to the City Clerk or his/her duly authorized
representative the sum of twenty five dollars ($25.00) as a redemption
fee for the first time that the animal is redeemed. On subsequent
occasions that an animal is redeemed, the fee shall double, i.e.,
the second redemption will be fifty dollars ($50.00), the third redemption
will be one hundred dollars ($100.00), etc.
[Ord. No. 380 §3, 8-14-2001; Ord. No. 412 §1, 7-12-2005]
If a dog is found running at large, said dog shall be picked
up and held by the City of Sparta in its holding pens for a minimum
of five (5) days. At the option of the City, they shall then be transported
to the Humane Society.
A.
A person
is guilty of animal neglect when he/she has custody or ownership or
both of an animal and fails to provide adequate care or adequate control
which results in substantial harm to the animal.
B.
A person
is guilty of animal abandonment when he/she has knowingly abandoned
an animal in any place without making provisions for its adequate
care.
C.
Animal
neglect or animal abandonment are ordinance violations. For a first
(1st) offense of either violation, a term of imprisonment not to exceed
fifteen (15) days or a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00)
or both such fine and imprisonment may be imposed. For a second (2nd)
or subsequent violation of either offense, a term of imprisonment
not to exceed ninety (90) days or a fine not to exceed five hundred
dollars ($500.00) or both such fine and imprisonment may be imposed.
All fines and penalties for a first (1st) conviction of animal neglect
or animal abandonment may be waived by the court provided that the
person found guilty of animal neglect or abandonment shows that adequate,
permanent remedies for the neglect or abandonment have been made.
Reasonable costs incurred for the care and maintenance of neglected
or abandoned animals may not be waived.
D.
In
addition to any other penalty imposed by this Section, the court may
order a person found guilty of animal neglect or animal abandonment
to pay all reasonable costs and expenses necessary for:
1.
The care and maintenance of neglected or abandoned animals within
the person's custody or ownership;
2.
The disposal of any dead or diseased animals within the person's
custody or ownership;
3.
The reduction of resulting organic debris affecting the immediate
area of the neglect or abandonment; and
4.
The avoidance or minimization of any public health risks created
by the neglect or abandonment of the animals.
[Ord. No. 453, 7-14-2009; Ord. No. 461, 7-14-2009]
A.
A person
is guilty of animal abuse when a person:
1.
Intentionally or purposely kills an animal in any manner not allowed
by or expressly exempted from the provisions of Sections 578.005 to
578.023 and 273.030, RSMo.;
2.
Purposely or intentionally causes injury or suffering to an animal;
or
3.
Having ownership or custody of an animal knowingly fails to provide
adequate care or adequate control.
[1]
Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can
be a felony under state law.
A.
A person
commits the offense of knowingly releasing an animal if that person,
acting without the consent of the owner or custodian of an animal,
intentionally releases any animal that is lawfully confined for the
purpose of companionship or protection of persons or property or for
recreation, exhibition or educational purposes.
B.
As
used in this Section, "animal" means every living
creature, domesticated or wild, but not including Homo sapiens.
C.
The
provisions of this Section shall not apply to a public servant acting
in the course of such servant's official duties.
Any person in physical possession and control of any animal
shall remove excreta or other solid waste deposited by the animal
in any public or private area not designated to receive such wastes
including, but not limited to, streets, sidewalks, parking lots, public
parks or recreation areas and private property. The provisions of
this Section shall not apply to a guide dog accompanying any blind
person.
Whenever rabies becomes prevalent in the City, the Mayor shall,
according to the necessity of the case, issue a quarantine order requiring
every owner or person in charge of any dog or dogs within the limits
of the City to either kill or impound his/her dog or dogs or to have
such dog or dogs immunized. Said order shall be published once in
the paper officially publishing the business of the City and, in the
absence of such paper, shall be posted as in case of sales of personal
property. The Mayor is authorized by proclamation to terminate any
such quarantine whenever, in his/her judgment, the necessity for it
no longer exists.
[Ord. No. 106 §76.050, 10-2-1984]
It shall be unlawful for any person to ride or lead a horse
on the City streets of Sparta, Missouri, from one-half (½)
hour after sunset to one-half (½) hour before sunrise.
[Ord. No. 340 §1(73.600), 8-17-1993; Ord. No. 412, 8-9-2005]
No person shall keep or permit the keeping of hogs, swine or
pigs on premises owned or controlled by him/her within the City.
[CC 1982 §73.610; Ord. No. 412, 8-9-2005]
A.
No
person shall keep a cow, bull, mule, jack, jennet, horse, goat, fowl
or sheep in an outdoor enclosure or pasture, the exterior boundary
of which is within one hundred (100) feet of the dwelling house of
another, a church, school or place of business of another.
B.
No
person shall keep more than one (1) cow, bull, jack, horse, goat,
sheep or fowl or any combination of such animals/fowl in an outdoor
enclosure or pasture, unless such enclosure or pasture shall have
an area of twenty-one thousand seven hundred eighty (21,780) square
feet or one-half (½) acre for each of such animals/fowl.
[CC 1982 §73.640]
No person shall keep, allow or permit to be kept on any premises
occupied by him/her or under his/her charge and control any animal
or animals or fowl in a pen or other enclosure of any kind under such
conditions that an offensive or noxious smell or odor shall arise
therefrom to the injury, annoyance or inconvenience of any inhabitant
of the neighborhood.
No person may keep any lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar,
cheetah, margay, mountain lion, Canada lynx, bobcat, jaguarundi, hyena,
wolf, bear, nonhuman primate, coyote, any deadly, dangerous, or poisonous
reptile, or any deadly or dangerous reptile over eight (8) feet long,
in any place other than a properly maintained zoological park, circus,
scientific, or educational institution, research laboratory, veterinary
hospital, or animal refuge, unless such person has registered such
animals with the local Law Enforcement Agency in the County in which
the animal is kept.
