[Amended 9-9-2002]
Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions
of this article shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not
less than $25 nor more than $200 and imprisonment for a term of not
less than 10 days nor more than 30 days for the first such conviction.
For a second or subsequent conviction, any person, firm or corporation
shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not less than $50
nor more than $500 and imprisonment for a term of not less than 20
days nor more than 60 days for each such conviction. Each day that
a violation of any of the provisions of this article continues shall
be deemed and taken to be a separate and distinct violation.
Consistent with 16 Del. C. § 3035F or other applicable
law, any agent of the Brandywine Valley Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals ("BVSPCA"), or other state, county or municipal
agency so authorized, may impound a cat owned by or in the custody
or possession of a person in violation of 11 Del. Code § 1325.
The City desires to reduce the population of feral and free-roaming
cats in the City humanely. Any person engaging in the trapping or
removal of such cats within the City, except state, county and municipal
agencies, an agent of the BVSPCA or of another no-kill animal rescue
group, shall comply with the following procedures:
A. Traps and trapped feral or free-roaming cats.
(1) Live traps shall be the only trapping method employed. All trapping
and catching of feral or free-roaming cats shall be performed in a
humane manner. In no case shall leg traps, foothold traps, snare traps,
nooses, or traps designed to be lethal or to harm trapped animals
be used to trap or catch cats.
(2) No trap shall be left unchecked for more than two hours.
B. Any feral or free-roaming cat caught by any person, other than state,
county and municipal agencies, an agent of the BVSPCA, or other no-kill
animal rescue group(s), shall, within four hours of apprehension,
be placed in the custody of:
(2) A no-kill animal rescue group.
After compliance with the preceding section, a feral or free-roaming
cat that has been caught in the City may be returned to the City.
A feral or free-roaming cat that has been caught outside the City
shall not be relocated to the City.
A copy of this article shall be forwarded to the BVSPCA in Georgetown,
Delaware.
No cat that has an identification tag or that is known to be
in the care of any person, or that has a clipped ear indicating prior
capture and release, shall be trapped intentionally and, if trapped
accidentally, shall be released immediately upon discovery.
Any person that fails to comply with this article shall, in
addition to any other remedies at law, be fined subject to a civil
fine of $500 for each violation. A code enforcement official of the
City is authorized to investigate violations of this article and to
impose civil fines for any violation the official deems to have occurred.