[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005; as amended by Ord. 454, 9/2/2008]
All dogs, cats or other domestic animals.
When applied to the proprietorship of a domestic animal,
includes every person having a right or property in such domestic
animal and every person who keeps or harbors such domestic animal
or has it in his care or custody and every person who permits such
domestic animal to remain on or about any premises owned or acquired
him of ownership.
West Lebanon Township.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
1.
No person, being the owner of any dog and/or cat, shall allow or
permit such dog and/or cat to run at large at any time, whether it
bears a proper license tag or not, either upon any of the streets,
alleys or public grounds in the Township, or upon the property of
anyone other than the owner of such dog and/or cat, unless accompanied
by and under the immediate control of such owner.
2.
It shall be the duty of the owner of any dog and/or cat, and the
duty of the parent or guardian of any minor owner of any dog and/or
cat, to keep the dog securely tied, penned in an enclosure or otherwise
confined upon the property of the owner, in such a manner that the
dog cannot break loose and run at large over the streets, alleys and
public grounds in the Township, or upon the property of anyone other
than the owner of such dog.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
It shall be the duty of the owner of any dog and/or cat, while
on the streets, alleys or public grounds in the Township, to have
the dog and/or cat under sufficient control at all times so as to
prevent the dog and/or cat from entering upon the property of any
person in the Township without the consent of the owner of such property,
or upon the property of anyone other than the owner of such dog and/or
cat.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
1.
Practices to be observed in the keeping of animals under this Part
shall be as follows:
A.
Every owner of such animal under this Part, who shall confine the
same in an enclosure sufficient to prevent their running at large,
shall maintain such enclosures in a clean and sanitary condition at
all times and shall use an approved insecticide, as often as deemed
necessary by the Township Public Safety Official.
B.
Every owner shall provide a shelter or area of a size sufficient
to be conducive to good sanitation practices and he shall provide
adequate and sanitary drainage for the shelter or area.
C.
With the exception of horses and ponies, every owner of any enclosure
for animals shall cause the litter and droppings therefrom to be collected
daily in a container or receptacle of such a type that when closed
it is ratproof and flytight, and after each collection shall cause
such container or receptacle to be kept closed. At least once a week,
each such keeper shall cause all litter and droppings so collected
to be disposed of in a way as not to permit the presence of fly larvae.
D.
Every keeper of any animal shall cause all feed provided therefor
to be stored and kept in a ratproof, flytight building, box, container
or receptacle.
E.
Upon complaint, the premises shall be subject to inspection by the
Township Public Safety Official or any of his representatives at any
reasonable hour of the day.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005; as amended by Ord. 454, 9/2/2008]
The Humane Officer is hereby charged with properly and humanely
enforcing the provisions of this Part and shall perform all other
duties which may be prescribed by the Township Commissioners; provided,
that any conduct which shall constitute a violation under this Part
and is also a violation of a statute of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
shall be prosecuted under such statute of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and not under this Part.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
It shall be the duty of the Humane Officer, law officers, or
public official, to seize and detain every dog and/or cat, whether
licensed or not, which is in violation of this Part. When the Humane
Officer is in immediate pursuit of any such dog, he is authorized
and empowered to go upon any open private property upon which the
dog is trespassing in order to seize and detain such dog.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005; as amended by Ord. 454, 9/2/2008]
1.
Any dog, whether bearing a proper license tag or not, seized and
detained under the provisions of this Part, shall be properly kept
and fed, and immediate notice, either personal or by registered mail,
shall be given by the Humane Officer to the owner of the dog, or his
agent, directing the owner or agent to claim the dog in three days.
2.
The owner of a licensed dog so detained shall pay all fines and costs
imposed by this Part for the violation thereof and also the expense
of impounding and keeping the dog before the dog is returned. The
expense shall be in an amount as established from time to time by
resolution of the Board of Commissioners. If, after three days from
the giving of such notice, the dog has not been claimed by its owner,
the Humane Officer may remove the collar and tag, dispose of the dog
by sale or cause the same to be destroyed in some humane manner. No
dog so caught and detained shall be sold for the purpose of vivisection.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
The Humane Officer shall keep an accurate and up-to-date record
of all animals received, returned or disposed of by him and of all
funds received by him in the performance of his duties, and shall
report the same each month to the Township Commissioners.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
All funds received as reimbursement from the state from the
sale of such dogs, or as reimbursement for the per diem rate, shall
be divided equally between the Dog Law Officer and the Township Dog
Program, each receiving half. All fines and penalties collected under
this Part shall be paid to the Township Treasurer for the use of the
Township.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
Any person who shall obstruct the Humane Officer or other person
appointed under this Part in carrying out the provisions of this Part,
or who shall willfully or maliciously obstruct or molest the Humane
Officer in the seizure or transportation of dogs, in violation of
this Part, shall be liable, upon conviction thereof, under the penalties
provided in this Part.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
The Township Commissioners are hereby authorized and empowered
to enter into agreements with any officially recognized humane society
for the purpose of assisting in carrying out the intent of this Part.
Without limiting the scope of the preceding sentence, this shall be
deemed to include finding homes for dogs which have been seized under
the provisions of this Part, assisting in their destruction according
to law, and cooperating in every way with the Humane Officer.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
Any dog found running at large or in violation of this Part,
upon seizure by the Humane Officer, law officer or any public official,
shall be impounded in such facilities which are provided for same
by the law enforcement agency employed by the Township.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
No person shall allow any dog or other domestic animal which,
by frequent barking and noisemaking, causes a noise disturbance by
making sound continuously for a period of 10 minutes or makes noise
intermittently for 1/2 hour or more to the disturbance of any person
any time of the day or night or a disturbance which will interfere
with or deprive the peace, quiet, rest or sleep of any person within
the neighborhood; provided, however, 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 situated or for
any other legitimate cause which teased or provoked the dog or other
domestic animal.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
1.
It shall be unlawful for any owner to have any dog and/or cat that
becomes a nuisance in the Township. Acts of nuisance shall include,
but are expressly not restricted to, the following:
A.
The frequent digging into flower beds, lawns, children's sandboxes,
gardens or the depositing of feces or urine and/or otherwise damaging
shrubbery, trees or lawns on premises, personal property or other
property not belonging to the owner of the dog and/or cat.
B.
Vaccination. Any owner of any dog and/or cat shall comply with, and
be current with, rabies vaccination requirements of the laws of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and any other vaccination requirements
of the laws the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with regard to dogs and/or
cats.
C.
Viciousness.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005; as amended by Ord. 473, 11/1/2010, § 1]
No person or persons shall allow any dog or other domestic animal,
or any nondomestic animal owned by him or under his control to defile,
befoul, corrupt, defecate, or otherwise desecrate any sidewalk, walkway
or the property of another.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005]
It shall be unlawful for the owner, custodian of any dog and/or
cat to have any such animal without bearing a current license tag.
The dog licensing shall be performed under the rules and regulations
of the County, and the cat licensing shall be performed in accordance
with the rules and regulations established by this Part. License fees
for dogs shall be paid to the County. License fees for cats shall
be paid to the Township, in accordance with its fee schedule adopted
by resolution of the Township. The Township shall be permitted to
establish separate license fees for spayed or neutered animals. Cat
licenses will be issued at the Township Office, during regular business
hours.
[Ord. 424, 6/6/2005; as amended by Ord. 454, 9/2/2008]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision
of this Part, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a
fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs and, in default of payment
of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 30
days. Each day that a violation of this Part continues shall constitute
a separate offense.
