[Amended 8-14-2023 by Ord. No. 1044]
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 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 (chickens, 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]
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. All owners
of domesticated animals shall provide adequate care, adequate control,
and adequate shelter for their animals.
C. 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.
D. No domesticated
animal shall be allowed at large.
E. No domesticated
animal shall be allowed to habitually bark, yelp, or howl so that
it disturbs others.
F. No domesticated
animal shall be allowed to threaten or cause fear to others.
[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]
A. No owner
shall fail to provide an animal 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
an animal or cause, instigate, or permit any fighting or combat between
animals.
C. No person
shall intentionally kill domesticated animals in any manner except
humane euthanasia performed by a licensed veterinarian.
D. No person
shall purposely abandon any animal in any place without making provisions
for its care as described in this Section.
E. No person
shall transport any animal 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
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 animal 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
animal, 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 animal 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 animal
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.