[Amended 8-14-2023 by Ord. No. 1044; amended 6-10-2024 by Ord. No. 1075]
For the purposes of Chapter
73, 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 CONTROL
Reasonable restraint sufficient to prevent an animal from
running at large, injuring itself, or any person, animal, or property.
ADEQUATE SHELTER
Structurally sound, properly ventilated, and weatherproofed
housing which is large enough to let the animal housed in it 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. This
adequate shelter must be located at least six (6) feet from side or
rear property line.
ANIMAL
Any living vertebrate except humans.
AT LARGE
Off the premises of the owner, or of anyone having care,
custody, or control, and not under the adequate control of anyone.
DOMESTICATED ANIMAL
Any animal, including but not limited to a cat, dog, kitten,
or puppy, that has historically been tamed and kept by humans primarily
for human companionship. Does include pot-bellied pigs and small mammals
such as rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, and hamsters. Does not include
reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, dangerous, exotic, or wild animals.
EXOTIC/DANGEROUS ANIMAL
Any animal not indigenous to the United States and/or not
normally kept as a pet, including, but not limited to, non-human primates,
alligators, large carnivores, deadly or poisonous reptiles, wolves,
coyotes or any animal bred with a wolf or coyote.
FARM ANIMALS
Swine, cows, horses, sheep, goats, poultry (guineas, turkeys,
ducks, geese), alpacas, and llamas.
FERAL CAT
A domestic cat born in the wild or that has reverted to a
wild state and is not tame or socialized.
HARBOR
To feed, shelter, or confine an animal.
OWNER
Any person with custody or control of an animal who legally
acquired such animal, any person who claims ownership of such animal.
WILD ANIMAL
Any indigenous species of animal which is not normally domesticated
in the United States and would normally live in the wild, irrespective
of its actual state of domesticity, docility, or tameness, including
but not limited to feral cats.
Every owner of any dog or cat shall procure a license for each
dog or cat as required by this chapter.
On the first day of January of each year, the owner of each dog or cat, then over the age of six months, kept within the City, and for each dog or cat then thereafter kept in the City, on attaining six months of age during the year, shall secure from the City Clerk a license tag for such dog or cat, which license tag shall be issued upon payment of a $5 fee, and compliance with §
73.280 hereof. The license tag shall expire on the 31st day of December next following issuance. The owner shall keep the tag securely fastened by means of a collar about the neck of the dog or cat at all times.
It shall be the duty of the owner of every dog or cat kept within
the City, subject to the license tag specified in the preceding section,
to cause the same to be registered at the office of the City Clerk,
in the City animal register, and the City Clerk shall enter into the
City animal register the date of application for the license tag,
the number of the tag issued, to whom and for whom issued and the
breed, sex and color of such dog or cat. The Clerk shall thereupon
furnish to the person a tag, having plainly marked, cast or stamped
thereon the figures indicating the year for which the tag was issued
and a number corresponding with the number of the entry on the animal
register. Before any dog or cat required by the preceding section
to have a City license tag shall be registered at the office of the
City Clerk as required in the section, there shall be presented to
the City Clerk a written statement briefly describing such dog or
cat sought to be registered and naming the alleged owner thereof,
signed by a duly licensed veterinarian who shall certify that such
dog or cat has been immunized against rabies or accompanied by a rabies
control tag and the date of immunization. Such date of immunization
and effective period of the immunization shall be recorded at the
time of registration of such dog or cat.
The City Clerk is authorized annually to procure on behalf of
the City, a supply of tags sufficient for the need of that particular
year.
[Added 8-14-2023 by Ord. No. 1044; amended 6-10-2024 by Ord. No. 1075]
A. No more
than any combination of four (4) domesticated animals may be kept
in all residential zoning districts by the occupant(s) of a dwelling
unit unless otherwise prohibited by the owner(s) of said dwelling
unit. Said animals may not be kept for commercial or sale purposes.
Said animals may not be kept as to cause a public nuisance.
B. Chickens
shall be allowed to be kept in all residential zoning districts on
tracts of at least 2/10 of an acre under the following conditions:
1. The term “chicken” shall mean the genus of female chickens
known as gallus gallus. The term “chicken” shall not mean the genus of male chickens known as gallus gallus
and more commonly known as a rooster. In the event that chickens are
acquired at an age when gender cannot be determined, any male chickens,
also known as roosters, must be removed from the premises within ten
(10) days of the date that the gender can be determined.
2. There
shall be a maximum of six (6) chickens per tract.
3. Upon
formal request made by a property owner in a district that is not
residential, the Board of Aldermen may allow, in its sole discretion,
chickens to be kept in or on a tract which is located in such district
provided that the tract is used as a single-family dwelling, and such
allowance will cease when the property owner no longer resides on
the property, or if the Board of Aldermen disallows the keeping of
chickens on the tract due to complaints by adjoining property owners
in the district.
4. Chickens
may not be kept for commercial or sale purposes.
5. Chickens
may not be kept as to cause a public nuisance.
C. All owners
of domesticated animals and chickens shall provide adequate care,
adequate control, and adequate shelter.
D. The parent
or guardian of a minor child is responsible for the adequate care,
adequate control, and adequate shelter of any pet of the minor child.
E. No domesticated
animal or chicken shall be allowed at-large. Chickens must be kept
within a coop or pen and shall not be allowed to roam on their home
property.
F. No domesticated
animal or chicken shall be allowed to habitually bark, yelp, howl,
or make noise so that it disturbs others.
G. No domesticated
animal or chicken shall be allowed to threaten or cause fear to others.
H. Any dog
off its home property must be on a leash under the adequate control
of a person.
[Added 8-14-2023 by Ord. No. 1044]
A. Farm animals
may only be kept in the "A-1" zoning district under the following
conditions:
1. The tract
size of the farm must be at least five (5) acres and cannot be in
a subdivision.
2. No barn,
shed, coop, or other shelter shall be closer than fifty (50) feet
to any property line.
3. Only
one (1) farm animal shall be allowed per acre.
4. No farm
animal shall be allowed at large.
[Added 8-14-2023 by Ord. No. 1044; amended 6-10-2024 by Ord. No. 1075]
A. No owner
shall fail to provide a domesticated animal or chicken with sufficient
good and wholesome food, water, protection from the weather, and veterinary
care when needed to preserve the health of the animal.
B. No person
shall cruelly treat, torment, overload, overwork or otherwise abuse
a domesticated animal or chicken or cause, instigate, or permit any
fighting or combat between domesticated animals or chickens or roosters.
C. No person
shall intentionally kill a domesticated animal or chickens in any
manner except humane euthanasia.
D. No person
shall purposely abandon any domesticated animal or chicken in any
place without making provisions for its care as described in this
Section.
E. No person
shall transport any domesticated animal or chicken in a non-enclosed
vehicle from which it can escape, fall, or be thrown.
F. Any person
who, as the operator of a motor vehicle, strikes a domesticated animal
or chicken shall immediately report such injury or death to the animal's
owner. In the event the owner cannot be ascertained or located, such
person shall report the incident to the City of Moscow Mills Police
Department.
G. All fecal
accumulations in any pen, run, cage, kennel, yard or dwelling unit
where any domesticated animal or chicken is kept shall be removed
and disposed of in such a manner as to prevent the breeding of flies
and the creation of offensive or noxious odors or other nuisance.
Any person having control of any domesticated animal or chicken, whether
on personal property owned by another or in a public place, shall
possess and carry a device, mechanism, or container designed for the
removal of fecal matter deposited by said domesticated animal or chicken,
and shall, immediately remove any and all such fecal matter and dispose
of same properly. Fecal matter may not be disposed of in the City’s
stormwater system.
H. No domesticated
animal or chicken may be confined in a building, enclosure, car, boat,
vehicle, or vessel of any kind when weather conditions, hot or cold,
may be harmful to its health.
Police officers shall have the right of entry to any lots or
lands for the purpose of inspecting any animal reported or reasonably
believed to be in violation of this chapter.
No owner of any animal shall keep any animal in a pen or other
enclosure of any kind under such conditions that offensive or noxious
odors or smells cause annoyance to persons living in the immediate
area or persons passing upon sidewalks, alleys or streets.
[Amended 8-14-2023 by Ord. No. 1044]
No person or business shall possess any wild, exotic, or dangerous
animal for sale, display, or exhibition purposes. No such animal shall
be kept as a pet within the City limits. No such animal shall be harbored
within the City limits.
[Added 8-14-2023 by Ord. No. 1044]
A. Bees may
be kept in a residentially zoned district under the following conditions:
1. A minimum
lot size of ten thousand (10,000) square feet.
2. The maximum
number of colonies shall be limited to three (3) hives.
3. The hive(s)
location shall not be visible where possible or behind a sight-proof
fence, which is six (6) feet in height.
4. A fresh
water supply shall be located within five (5) feet of the hive.
5. An apiary
of one (1) or more hives shall be located at least twenty (20) feet
from the property line or public right-of-way, with the hive opening
directed towards the most distant property line.
Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this
chapter is guilty of an infraction and upon conviction thereof shall
be punished by a fine of not more than $500, under such limits as
may be imposed by the state statute.