For the purpose of this article, the following terms shall have
the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context
in which the word is used clearly indicates otherwise:
ANIMAL
Any dog, cat, domesticated animal or nondomesticated animal.
DOG LAW
The statute found at 3 Pa.C.S.A. § 459.101 et seq.
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
Any person employed by the Borough whose duty it is to preserve
peace or to make arrests or to enforce any law, including policemen,
auxiliary policemen, the Code Enforcement officer or the Zoning Officer.
FARM ANIMAL
An animal other than a dog or cat which is normally and usually
found on a farm.
FERAL ANIMAL
An unowned free-roaming cat, dog or reptile which is not
a farm animal that is partially socialized or unsocialized to humans
and tends to resist contact with humans.
KENNEL, UNLICENSED
Real property being utilized by the controller or occupant
thereof for the housing of animals for payment, fee, income, profit,
compensation or commercial purposes.
NUISANCE
Shall include the following:
A.
An animal or animals shall be considered a nuisance for habitually
trespassing upon or damaging either private or public property, or
annoying or harming lawful users or occupants thereof.
B.
Any activity or nonactivity which produces or causes directly
or indirectly excessive noise, continuous noise, pollution, or offensive
odors which cause inconvenience or damage to others.
C.
Any disturbance which shall interfere with or deprive the peace,
quiet, rest or sleep of any person within the Borough.
D.
The operation of an unlicensed kennel.
E.
Any violation of the Pennsylvania Dog Law shall be deemed to
be a nuisance under this article.
F.
It shall be a nuisance for an occupant or controller of property
to have custody of, to harbor or to permit a dog, cat, domestic animal
or a nondomesticated animal to run at large.
G.
Any other acts or conduct held or found to constitute a nuisance
at common law or by any court of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
PERSON
A natural person, firm, partnership, association or corporation.
RUNNING AT LARGE
An animal upon any public highway, street, alley, park or
any other public land or upon property of another person other than
the owner and not being firmly secured by means of a collar and chain
or other device so that it cannot stray or not being accompanied by
or under the reasonable control of a natural person shall be deemed
to be running at large.
STRAY CAT
Any cat whose owner or keeper from time to time allows the
cat to run at large off of the property of the owner or keeper.
VEHICLE
Every device in, upon or by which any person or property
is or may be transported or driven upon any highway, street, road
or alley except devises used exclusively upon rails or tracks.
No person shall allow or permit a nuisance to occur or to take
place on property under his control or elsewhere, as defined herein.
Any police officer or enforcement officer of the Borough is hereby authorized to seize and detain any animal running at large in violation of §
123-10 or any animal concerning which reliable information has been received that such animal has been running at large. Any animal so seized shall be held by the Borough for 48 hours in a shelter as defined in §
123-12, at the owner's expense. Immediate notice of such seizure, either personally or by certified mail or email, with return receipt requested, shall be given to the person in whose name the license, if any, was issued, or his agent, to claim such animal within 48 hours after receipt hereof. In the event that the animal does not bear a proper license tag, immediate notice, either personally or by certified mail or email return receipt requested, shall be given to the person, or his agent, known to be the owner of such animal. The owner or claimant of an animal so detained shall pay a penalty of $50 to the Borough, together with a charge as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council per day for room and board or daily charge of the shelter where the animal is kept, whichever amount is greater. No animal shall be returned to the owner or claimant until said penalty and expense or charges shall be paid.
If, after 48 hours of such notice as set forth in §
123-11, such animal has not been claimed, the police officer or enforcement officer shall convey the animal to a shelter, animal rescue, or foster care. No licensed animal shall be adopted, sold or otherwise disposed of unless such licensed animal remains unclaimed five days after notification, evidenced by obtaining a return receipt if notified by certified mail or email. Where the owner or agent of an unlicensed animal is not known, the police officer or enforcement officer shall convey such animal to a shelter, animal rescue, or foster care. No animal shall be sold for the purpose of vivisection or research or be conveyed in any manner for such purposes.
No person other than a person actually working a dog or other
animal for agricultural purposes shall transport or carry on any public
highway, street, road or alley such dog or other animal, unless such
dog or animal is safely enclosed within the motor vehicle or protected
by a container, cage, cross tether or other device to prevent the
dog or animal from falling from, being thrown from, out of or jumping
from said motor vehicle.
No person shall leave a dog or other animal in any unattended
motor vehicle without adequate ventilation, sanitary conditions or
in such a manner as to subject the dog or other animal to extreme
temperature which may adversely affect the health or safety of the
dog or animal.
It shall be unlawful for any owner of any cat to permit such
cat to run free outside the residence of its owner or keeper unless
such cat has been:
A. Neutered or spayed to prevent procreating;
B. Immunized against rabies in compliance with Pennsylvania law; and
C. Appropriately "tipped" on the left ear to signify that it has been
neutered/spayed and immunized.
It shall be unlawful for any person to continue to feed stray
or feral cats where such feeding causes a nuisance to neighbors or
creates a condition contrary to the health, safety, and welfare of
the community.
The provisions of this article, as far as they are the same
as those of ordinances in force immediately prior to the enactment
of this article, are intended as a continuation of such ordinances.