[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
(A)
Adoption by reference. Pennsylvania State Code, 3 P.S. § 455.8,
is hereby adopted by reference and in part states the following: "Every
person living in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, owning or keeping
a dog or cat over three months of age, shall cause that dog or cat
to be vaccinated against rabies. Rabies vaccine shall be administered
by a licensed veterinarian or under the supervision of a licensed
veterinarian. The Commonwealth shall recognize the three-year rabies
vaccine as the vaccine to be used. Those animals vaccinated after
one year of age shall get booster vaccinations every three years thereafter.
Those animals vaccinated prior to one year of age will be considered
protected for only one year and shall receive a booster vaccination
one year later on the anniversary date of the original vaccination
and shall be vaccinated every three years thereafter."
(B)
Certificate and tag of vaccination. Every licensed veterinarian who
vaccinates a dog or cat against rabies shall issue a vaccination certificate
and tag provided by the manufacturer to the owner.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
(A)
No person shall own, keep or harbor any dog within the limits of
the Borough unless such dog is licensed as required by 3 P.S. §§ 459-101
et seq.
(B)
Unlicensed dogs shall be impounded in conformance with § 614.20
of this chapter.
(C)
No person shall own, keep or harbor any dog or cat within the limits
of the Borough unless such dog or cat is equipped with a microchip
implant.
(D)
Dogs and cats not equipped with a microchip implant shall be impounded
in conformation with § 614.20 of this chapter.
(E)
Any person that shall violate this section shall, upon conviction
thereof in a summary proceeding before a District Justice, be sentenced
to pay a fine of not less than $50.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
(A)
A current license issued by the County of Delaware shall be obtained
by the owner/guardian of every dog.
(B)
Every dog and cat within the limits of the Borough must have a microchip
implant and also wear identification collar, clearly and legibly indicating
the name, address and phone number of the owner/guardian of that animal.
(C)
All animals, when not within the owner/guardian's real property
limits, must be secured by a leash or lead or otherwise under the
immediate control of the owner/guardian.
(D)
No owner/guardian of an animal shall be permitted to cause a nuisance
as defined in § 614.02 of this chapter.
(E)
The owner/guardian of every animal shall be held responsible for
every act and behavior of such animal under the provisions of this
chapter.
(F)
Police officers of the Borough and/or the Animal Control Officer
may order a vicious animal confined by the animal's owner/guardian
within a building or secure enclosure.
(G)
Except in cases of self-defense, the abandonment, killing, harming
or tormenting of any animal, wild or domestic, is prohibited and is
subject to fines and penalties provided herein, in addition to such
fines and penalties as may be imposed under county, state and federal
laws.
(H)
All animals shall be kept and cared for in a humane manner at all
times. Animals shall be provided constant access to shelter which
protects the animal from inclement weather, keeps the animals dry
and keeps the animal's body temperature within the normal range.
Chains or ropes of any material must be appropriate to the size and
type of the animal, must be placed and attached so that the chain
cannot become entangled so as to reduce the length of the chain and
must be attached to the animal by a belt-type collar.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
(A)
Any private citizen may request the Borough Police Department to
warn any owner/guardian of any animal which is considered to be a
public nuisance as set forth in § 614.19 of this chapter.
(B)
A warning by the police shall consist of delivery of a copy of this
article and section to the address in the Borough of any such owner/guardian.
(C)
In the absence of any such warning being requested of the police,
the complaining private citizen may request the Animal Protection
Officer or Health Officer's office to provide the desired warning.
(D)
Any such request must be made in writing and shall identify and specify
the residence address of the owner/guardian of the allegedly offending
animal, and shall identify and specify the residence address of the
private citizen making the request. Upon receipt of such request,
the Animal Protection Officer or Health Officer shall mail a copy
of this article and section and a warning notice to the person identified
as the owner/guardian of the said animal.
(E)
A violation of this article shall be deemed to have occurred upon
a second or subsequent violation of § 614.19 below, after
the date of delivery of the said warning notice.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
(A)
Every owner/guardian of a guard dog or attack dog shall keep such
dog confined in a building, compartment or enclosure. Any such enclosure
shall be completely surrounded by a fence at least six feet in height
and shall be topped with an anti-climbing device sufficiently designed
to prevent the said dog from escaping the enclosure by climbing over
the fence. Such enclosure must be in compliance with the Borough Zoning
Code.
(B)
All such anti-climbing devices shall extend inward at an angle of
not less than 45° or more than 90° when measured from the
vertical.
(C)
The areas of confinement shall have gates and entrances thereto which
are securely closed and locked, and all fences, gates and entrances
shall be properly maintained and escape proof.
(D)
The provisions of this section shall not apply to dogs owned and
controlled by municipal law enforcement agencies.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
Every dangerous dog or aggressive dog shall be confined by its
owner/guardian to the residence of its owner/guardian in accordance
with Commonwealth of Pennsylvania P.S. Title 3, "Agriculture," Chapter
8, "Dog Law," 3 P.S. § 459-502. Such residence shall be
conspicuously posted with a placard once deemed dangerous by the court.
Whenever off the premises of its owner/guardian, the dog shall be
securely muzzled and restrained with a chain having a minimum tensile
strength of 300 pounds and not more than three feet in length, or
caged. Every person harboring a dangerous dog or an aggressive dog
is charged with the affirmative duty to confine the animal in such
a way that children do not have access to such animal.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
(A)
It shall be the duty of any owner/guardian of a dog which had bitten
or injures any human being or animal to report such occurrence immediately
to the Borough Police Department and to comply fully with the provisions
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania P.S. Title 3, "Agriculture," Chapter
8, "Dog Law," 3 P.S. § 459-502, its amendments and supplements,
and to pay all costs of examination by a qualified veterinarian, and
to comply with the orders of the Borough Health Officer and/or the
Borough Animal Control Officer.
(B)
In the absence of such compliance or, in the case of an unidentified
dog, the Health Officer and/or the Animal Control Officer shall have
such examination made as promptly as possible, and the owner/guardian
shall be liable to the Borough for the costs thereof, to be collected
in any manner authorize by law.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
(A)
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to keep, maintain
or harbor any animal or animals on any property located in the Borough
when keeping, maintaining or harboring of such animal or animals constitutes
a public nuisance, as defined in § 614.02 (Nuisances), or
a menace to public health or safety.
(B)
No person having possession, custody or control of any dog or other
animal shall knowingly or negligently permit such dog or other animal
to defecate upon any gutter, street, driveway, alley, curb or sidewalk,
in the Borough; upon the floor or stairway of any building or place
frequented by the public or used in common by tenants; upon the outside
walls, walkways, driveways, alleys, curbs or stairways of any building
abutting a public street or park; upon grounds of any public park
or public area; or upon any private property other than the property
owned or leased by the owner of such animal.
(C)
Any person having possession, custody or control of any dog or other
animal which commits a nuisance in any area other than on the private
property of the owner of such dog or other animal, as prohibited in
Division (B) hereof, shall be required to immediately remove the feces
from the surface.
(D)
The owner of an animal shall abate and clean his or her property
of excrement so as not to present a public health hazard and/or nuisance.
(E)
This section shall not apply to a guide dog accompanying any blind
or deaf/hearing impaired person, to a dog used to assist any other
physically handicapped person or to an animal used in any police or
fire activities of the Borough.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
(A)
No private citizen is authorized to trap animals. No private citizen
is authorized to set a trap of any kind designed to ensnare any animal
the size of an average adult cat or larger.
(B)
Upon receipt of a complaint alleging facts sufficient to show that
actions of an owner/guardian of an animal is a nuisance any Borough
police officer or the Animal Control Officer or the Code Enforcement
Officer will investigate, and upon a finding of situations creating
a nuisance and for good cause shown, the Animal Control Officer may
seize or authorize the seizure of the animal via a humane live-animal
trap set on the complaining citizen's property. When the Animal
Control Officer authorizes and permits the setting of an animal trap
in response to a citizen complaint, the person requesting the trap
must make certain that any animal which becomes entrapped does not
suffer any physical harm either through neglect of intentional acts,
but limited thereto, during the time the animal is so trapped. Upon
discovery of a trapped animal, it is the obligation of the complaining
citizen to report the capture of any animal to the Animal Control
Officer immediately. Failure to do so constitutes abusive neglect
and subjects the complaining citizen to fines and penalties set forth
in this article. All trapped animals must be released to the custody
of the Animal Control Officer. It shall be the right, the duty and
the obligation of any Borough police officer or the Animal Control
Officer to impound any animal found running at large or seen to be
without displaying the required County of Delaware license tag. Impoundment
shall take place at such shelter as may be designated by the Borough
Council by resolution or motion, and such confinement shall be conducted
in a humane manner.
(C)
Immediately upon the impoundment of an animal, the Animal Control
Officer shall make every reasonable effort to notify the owner/guardian
of the animal so impounded and inform such owner/guardian of the conditions
and procedure whereby custody of the animal may be regained.
(D)
In the event that animals are not wearing identification and are
not claimed within a period of two days during which the Borough designated
shelter is open to the public, the Animal Control Officer may:
(1)
Surrender the ownership/guardianship and possession of the animal
to an approved "rescue" organization, or other "no-kill shelter" organization;
or
(2)
Contact the Chester County SPCA, have the animal evaluated and,
if acceptable to them, surrender the ownership/guardianship and possession
of the animal to that organization.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
Any owner, keeper or custodian of any dog, cat or other animal
which has been apprehended and/or impounded, shall be responsible
for all fees incurred by the Borough. Such fees may include, but not
limited to, mobilization, transportation and detention.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
See Brookhaven Borough's Codified Ordinances Part Two - Administration, Title Two - General Provisions, Chapter 208 - General Fee Schedule.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
The provisions of this chapter and code sections adopted hereby
are severable, and if any clause, sentence or section thereof shall
be adjudged invalid or unconstitutional, such decision or judgment
shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
All ordinances, resolutions or parts thereof inconsistent herewith
are repealed, rescinded, canceled and annulled to the extent of such
inconsistency.
[Ord. 775, passed 2-4-2014]
This chapter shall be effective upon its adoption by Borough
Council and its approval by the Mayor.
