(a) The
city enforcement agent shall utilize the authority granted by federal,
state and local laws to lawfully seize and impound any animal if the
investigating city enforcement agent or police officer has reason
to believe that an animal has been or is being cruelly treated, pending
a hearing before any justice of the peace or any municipal court judge
on the issues of cruelty and disposition of the animal. Seizure of
the subject animal prior to receiving a warrant is hereby authorized
if such a delay endangers the life or well-being of the animal, or
if it would unreasonably prolong the suffering of the animal needing
immediate attention.
(b) Animals
shall be cared for, treated, maintained, and transported in a humane
manner and not in violation of any provision of law, including federal,
state, and local laws, ordinances, and administrative rules.
(c) In
addition, a person commits an offense if:
(1) A person other than a licensed veterinarian docks an animal’s
tail or removes dew claws of a puppy over five (5) days of age, or
crops an animal’s ears of any age;
(2) A person physically removes from its mother by selling, giving away,
delivering, trading, or bartering any dog, cat, ferret, or rabbit
less than six (6) weeks old or any other animal that is not yet weaned,
except as advised by a licensed veterinarian;
(3) A person dyes or colors chicks, ducks or rabbits;
(4) A person sells, gives away, delivers, trades or barters chickens
or ducks for the purposes of prizes or other satisfaction for participating
in a carnival, circus, amusement or any and all other types of game;
(5) A person abandons or dumps any animal;
(6) A person who is in control of a motor vehicle that strikes a domestic
animal fails to report the accident to the city animal services facility
as soon as possible;
(7) A person overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, or overworks
any animal;
(8) A person tortures, cruelly beats, mutilates, clubs, shoots or attempts
to shoot with any air rifle, bow and arrow, slingshot, or firearm,
or by any other means needlessly kills or injures any animal, wild
or owned, within the limits of the city;
(9) A person carries or transports an animal in any vehicle or conveyance
in a cruel, inhumane, or unsafe manner or fails to effectively restrain
such animal so as to prevent the animal from leaving or being accidentally
thrown from the vehicle during normal operation of the vehicle or
fails to restrain the animal so as to prevent infliction of bodily
harm to passersby;
(10) A person forces, allows, or permits any animal to remain in its own
filth;
(11) A person keeps, shelters, or harbors any animal having a potentially
life-threatening infestation of ticks, fleas, or other parasites,
any other obvious life-threatening illness, or injury, or any other
communicable illness transmissible to animal or human, without having
sought and obtained proper treatment from a licensed veterinarian
for such infestation or illness;
(12) A person causes an animal to fight another animal or person;
(13) A person fails to provide, at all times, his animal with adequate
wholesome food and potable water, proper shelter and protection from
inclement weather, and veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering;
(14) A person, firm or corporation shall raise or kill a dog or cat for
the skin or fur;
(15) A person, firm or corporation shall mutilate any animal, whether
such animal is dead or alive (medical or veterinary medical research,
medical or veterinary medical necropsy, and biology class use of animals
shall not be considered mutilation);
(16) A person, firm or corporation attaches a collar or harness to an
animal that is of an inadequate size so that it restricts the animal’s
growth or causes damage to the animal’s skin;
(17) A person shall engage or allow another to engage in any sexual act
with an animal;
(18) A person allows a stray animal to remain on their property without
notifying the city animal services facility of such fact within twenty-four
(24) hours;
(19) A person who owns or is in control of an animal permits such animal
to be at large within the city;
(20) A person breeds or causes to be bred any animal within the public
view;
(21) A person creates, maintains, permits or causes a public nuisance,
as defined in this chapter; or
(22) A person owns, keeps, harbors, or possesses horses, cattle, or other
livestock in any manner that is a violation of this chapter.
(d) This
section shall not be interpreted to restrict the extermination of
rats, mice, insects, other vermin, or any such animal deemed a nuisance
by state law, through the use of traps, poisons, or other commercially
available means when used in accordance with the manufacturer’s
directions as long as reasonable precautions are taken to ensure that
no human, pet, or wild animal, other than the targeted species, comes
into contact with the traps, poisons, or other means and that such
use does not violate any other section of this chapter.
(e) This
section shall not be interpreted to restrict rodeos, 4H Clubs, or
FFA Club activities and operations.
(1983 Code, sec. 4-4; Ordinance
2006-O0025, sec. 1, adopted 3/8/2006; Ordinance 2009-O0101, sec. 1, adopted 10/20/2009; Ordinance 2013-O0008, sec. 1, adopted 2/14/2013)
(a) It
shall be a violation of this chapter for any person to give away any
live animal as a prize or as an inducement to enter any contest, game,
raffle, or other competition or an inducement to enter a place of
business or to offer such animal as an incentive to enter into any
business agreement whereby the offer was for the purpose of attracting
trade.
(b) This
section shall not be interpreted to restrict any animal from being
offered for sale at auction, provided that such sale does not otherwise
violate any other section of this chapter.
(1983 Code, sec. 4-5; Ordinance
2006-O0025, sec. 1, adopted 3/8/2006; Ordinance 2013-O0008, sec. 1, adopted 2/14/2013)
A person having charge or custody of an animal shall not place
or confine such animal or allow such animal to be placed or confined
in a motor vehicle or trailer under such conditions or for such a
period of time as may endanger the health of the animal due to heat,
lack of food or water, or such other circumstances as may cause injury
or death of the animal. City enforcement agents finding an animal
being held in violation of this provision may cite the owner for violating
this section, obtain a search warrant pursuant to state or federal
law, and/or use reasonable force to remove an animal from a vehicle
whenever it appears the animal’s health or safety is, or soon
will be, endangered, and said neglected or endangered animal shall
be impounded and held pending a hearing. It shall be the responsibility
of the animal’s owner to repair any damage caused by the removal
of the animal from the dangerous situation by the city enforcement
agent or peace officer.
(1983 Code, sec. 4-6; Ordinance
2006-O0025, sec. 1, adopted 3/8/2006; Ordinance 2013-O0008, sec. 1, adopted 2/14/2013)
It shall be unlawful for any person to tie or tether a dog or
other animal to a stationary object for a period of time or in a location
so as to create an unhealthy situation for the animal or a potentially
dangerous situation for a pedestrian as determined by the city enforcement
agent. The terms “unhealthy situation” and “potentially
dangerous situation” shall include, but not be limited to, the
following:
(1) To
tether any animal in such a manner as to permit the animal access
upon any public right-of-way;
(2) To
tether any animal in such a manner as to cause the animal injury or
pain or not to permit the animal to reach shelter, food and/or water
or otherwise create an unsafe or unhealthy situation;
(3) To
tether any animal in such a manner as to permit the animal to leave
the owner’s property;
(4) To
tether any animal in an area that is not properly fenced so as to
prevent any person or child from entering the area occupied by said
animal;
(5) To
tether any pet animal in a manner whereby the animal is subject to
harassment, stings or bites from outdoor insects, or attacks by other
animals;
(6) To
tether any pet animal with a tether that is less than ten (10) feet
in length;
(7) To
tether any animal with a tether that is not equipped with swivel ends;
(8) To
tether any animal in such a manner that does not prevent the animal
from becoming entangled with any obstruction, from partially or totally
jumping any fence, or from leaving part of its owner’s property;
(9) To
fail to remove waste from the tethered area on a daily basis;
(10) To tether any animal without using a properly fitted collar or harness;
(11) To use choke-type collars to tether any animal; or
(12) To use a tether that weighs more than one-fifth (1/5) of the animal’s
body weight.
(13) Any other act of tethering that is not in compliance with the Texas
Administrative Code (TAC) chapter 821, subchapter D, unlawful restraint
of dog, section 821.076 and 821.077.
(1983 Code, sec. 4-7; Ordinance
2006-O0025, sec. 1, adopted 3/8/2006; Ordinance 2013-O0008, sec. 1, adopted 2/14/2013)
(a) It
shall be unlawful for any person to place or place and bait or to
permit the placing or placing and baiting of any trap designed for
trapping animals in any highway, street, alley or other public place
within the corporate limits of the city unless specific permission
by animal services has been granted. However, nothing in this chapter
shall prohibit a city enforcement agent from placing such traps on
public or private property as may be necessary to capture animals
running at large.
(b) It
shall be unlawful for any person to remove, alter, damage, or otherwise
tamper with a trap or equipment belonging to or set out by the city
enforcement agent.
(c) Residents
of the city wishing to trap unwanted animals on personal private property
may do so with the use of humane cage traps. Traps may be obtained
from animal services. Any trapping program must have prior written
approval of the land manager or owner, and written notification of
activities to animal services.
(d) Any
traps mentioned in this section found upon public property are hereby
declared to be abandoned traps, and any city enforcement officer is
hereby authorized and directed to impound any such trap and process
the same as abandoned property in accordance with the applicable provisions
of this code.
(e) It
shall be unlawful for any person to place or place and bait or to
permit the placing or placing and baiting of any steel-jawed trap
(commonly known as a bear trap, wolf trap, leg hold trap, or coyote
trap) within the corporate limits of the city.
(f) No
person shall place any substance or article that has in any manner
been treated with any poisonous substance in any place accessible
to human beings, birds, dogs, cats or other animals with the intent
to kill or harm animals. This shall include antifreeze purposely left
exposed to poison animals. This subsection, however, does not preclude
the use of commercially sold poisons when applied in accordance with
the manufacturer’s directions for such use, in that person’s
residence, accessory structure or commercial establishment, provided
that such use does not violate any other section of this chapter.
(1983 Code, sec. 4-39; Ordinance
2006-O0025, sec. 1, adopted 3/8/2006; Ordinance 2013-O0008, sec. 1, adopted 2/14/2013)