For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall
apply, unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different
meaning:
Any living creature, including but not limited to dogs, cats,
horses, birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, insects, fowl and livestock,
but specifically excluding human beings.
Any person or agency designated by the supervisor of animal
control or the city to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
Any living or dead cat (Felis catus).
A facility where a fee is charged to house, pasture or rent
horses or other livestock.
The animal control function of the city.
Vaccinated and satisfying the following criteria:
Any living or dead dog (Canis familiaris).
All species of animals commonly accepted as being domesticated.
The act of keeping and caring for an animal or of providing
premises to which the animal returns for food, shelter or care for
a period of three consecutive days.
Any species of animals which are normally suited for or are
kept or used on a farm, ranch or similar setting for agricultural
purposes such as animal husbandry, food or food production, production
of fiber or clothing material, riding, driving, pulling, hauling commerce,
or similar purpose. For purposes of this chapter, the following or
similar species of animals shall be considered to be large livestock,
regardless of age, breed, or sex: horses, mules, donkeys, ponies,
cattle and bulls.
A person or agency designated by the city to receive reports
of animal bites, investigate bite reports, insure quarantine of possible
rabid animals and otherwise carry out provisions of state law pertaining
to control and eradication of rabies.
Any person, firm or corporation having title to any animal,
or a person who has, harbors or keeps, or causes or permits to be
harbored or kept, any animal in his or her name or who permits an
animal to remain on or about his or her premises.
Not completely confined by a building, wall or fence of sufficient
strength or construction to restrain the animal, or not on a leash
or held in the hands of the owner or keeper, or not under direct supervision
of the owner within the limits of the owner’s private property.
Any species of animals which are normally suited for or are
kept or used on a farm, ranch, or similar setting for agricultural
purposes such as animal husbandry, food or food production, production
of fiber or clothing material, riding, driving, pulling, hauling commerce,
or similar purpose. For purposes of this chapter, the following or
similar species of animals shall be considered to be small livestock,
regardless of age, breed, or sex: sheep, goats, hogs, pigs, emus,
ostriches, or rhea.
Any animal for which there is no identifiable owner or harborer.
The person designated by the city administrator or the city
council to supervise all aspects of animal control.
Properly injected with a rabies vaccine licensed for use
in that species by the United States Department of Agriculture and
administered by a veterinarian licensed to practice in the state.
Any individual animal of any species that has, on one previous
occasion, without provocation, attacked or bitten any person or other
animal, or any individual animal that the local health authority or
supervisor of animal control has reason to believe has a dangerous
disposition, or any species of animal that the local health authority
or supervisor has reason to believe has a dangerous disposition likely
to be harmful to humans or other animals.
Any poisonous or dangerous reptile or any other species of animal
that commonly exists in a natural, unconfined state and is usually
not domesticated, including but not limited to foxes, opossums, raccoons,
squirrels, leopards, panthers, tigers, lions and lynx, unless certified
by medical, biological, herpetological or other scientific research
or study.
This definition shall apply regardless of state or duration
of captivity.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.01)
(a)
Enforcement
of this chapter shall be the responsibility of the local health authority
or an animal control officer.
(b)
The
local health authority or animal control officer shall have the authority
to issue citations for any violations of this chapter.
(c)
If
the person being cited is not present, the local health authority
or animal control officer may send the citation to the alleged offender
by registration [registered] or certified mail.
(d)
It
shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with the local health
authority or animal control officer in the performance of duties.
(e)
The
local health authority and animal control officer are given the right
to go onto private property in the city for the purpose of determining
whether or not any provision of this chapter has been violated and
to impound any animal kept or harbored in violation of any terms of
this chapter.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.06)
(a)
It shall be unlawful for any dog or other animal possessed, kept or harbored, other than a cat, to run at large, as is defined in section 2.01.001.
(b)
The animal control officer is authorized to impound animals running at large, other than a cat, and may impound a cat under conditions specified in section 2.03.001, or when he or she has received a complaint that the cat has caused a nuisance or hazard to the health or welfare of the human or animal population.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.20)
It shall be unlawful for any person owning or harboring any
animal to allow or permit the animal to run or to be at large within
the city limits. The designated representative of the city may cite
any owner permitting an animal to run at large, and the owner, if
convicted in municipal court, shall be fined not more than $500.00.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.99)
(a)
The
keeping of any animal which, by causing frequent or long-continued
barking, cry or noise, shall disturb any person of ordinary sensibilities
in the vicinity is prohibited.
(b)
The
keeping of any animal in a manner as to endanger the public health,
to annoy neighbors by the accumulation of animal wastes which cause
foul and offensive odors or are considered to be a hazard to any other
animal or human being, or by continued presence on the premises of
another is prohibited.
(c)
Animal
pens, stables or enclosures in which any animal may be kept or confined
that have become offensive to a person of ordinary sensitivities are
prohibited.
(d)
The
keeping of bees in a manner as to deny the lawful use of adjacent
property or endanger personal health and welfare is prohibited.
(e)
Persistent
laxness in supervision of cats so that their running at large results
in disturbance to persons of ordinary sensibilities is prohibited.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.21)
(a)
The
owner or person in possession of animals shall keep yards, pens and
enclosures in which the animals are confined in a manner as not to
give off odors offensive to persons of ordinary sensibilities residing
in the vicinity or to breed or attract flies, mosquitoes or other
noxious insects or in any manner to endanger the public health or
safety or create a public nuisance.
(b)
All
persons keeping animals shall comply with the following regulations:
(1)
Manure and droppings shall be removed from pens, stables, yards,
cages and other enclosures as necessary to maintain sanitary conditions
and handled or disposed of in a manner as to keep the premises free
of any nuisances.
(2)
Mound storage of droppings or manure between the removals shall be
permitted only under such conditions as to protect against the breeding
of flies and to prevent migration of fly larvae (maggots) into the
surrounding soil.
(3)
The feeding of vegetables, meat scraps or garbage shall be done only
in impervious containers or on an impervious platform.
(4)
Watering troughs or tanks shall be provided that are equipped with
adequate facilities for draining the overflow so as to prevent the
breeding of flies, mosquitoes and other insects.
(5)
No putrescible material shall be allowed to accumulate on the premises
and all material used to feed unconsumed shall be removed and disposed
of by burial or other sanitary means.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.04)
The following are established as guidelines for pet and animal
care and not intended to contravene with the provisions for animal
cruelty as contained in the Texas Penal Code:
(1)
No
owner shall fail to provide his or her animal(s) with sufficient good
wholesome food and water, proper shelter and protection from the weather,
and veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering, and with humane
care and treatment.
(2)
No
person shall beat, cruelly ill-treat, torment, overload, overwork
or otherwise abuse an animal, or cause, instigate or permit any dogfight,
cockfight, bullfight or other combat between animals or between animals
and humans.
(3)
No
owner of an animal shall abandon the animal.
(4)
Any
person who, as the operator of a motor vehicle, strikes a domestic
animal, shall stop at once and render assistance as may be possible
and shall immediately report the injury or death to the animal’s
owner. In the event the owner cannot be ascertained and located, the
operator shall at once report the accident to the appropriate law
enforcement agency.
(5)
The
use of steel jaw traps shall be prohibited.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.05)
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale,
barter or give away as toys, premiums or novelties baby chickens,
ducklings or other fowl under three weeks old, and rabbits under two
months old. Sale of the animals for agricultural purposes is exempt
from this provision.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.22(A))
It shall be unlawful to color, dye, stain or otherwise change
the natural color of any chickens, ducklings, other fowl or rabbits,
or to possess for the purpose of sale, or to be given away, any of
the above-mentioned animals which have been so colored.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.22(B))
It shall be unlawful to keep and/or sell any wild animal inside
the city.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.22(C))
(a)
Any
vicious animal found running at large may be destroyed by any peace
officer or animal control officer in the interest of public safety.
(b)
(1)
The animal control officer may order any owner or person having care,
control or custody of any vicious animal to take the animal permanently
from the city. This animal must be removed immediately following receipt
of such an order, even if an appeal is initiated.
(2)
This order may be appealed, in writing, within ten days, to the municipal
judge.
(3)
The municipal judge may uphold, reverse or modify the animal control
officer’s order and may stipulate restrictions on the animal
as a condition to allowing the animal to remain in the city.
(4)
If the municipal judge upholds the animal control officer’s
order, the owner or person having care, control or custody shall not
bring the animal back inside the city limits.
(c)
If the owner or person having care, custody or control of a vicious animal fails to remove the animal, as provided for in subsection (b) above, the animal may be impounded and/or destroyed.
(d)
(1)
The owner or person having care, custody or control of a vicious
animal must report the disposition and relocation of the animal to
the animal control officer, in writing, within ten days after the
expiration date for removal of the animal from the city.
(2)
Each day thereafter the information is not provided shall constitute
a separate offense.
(e)
The
animal control officer shall be authorized to obtain a search and
seizure warrant if there is reason to believe that an animal ordered
removed from the city for being vicious has not been so removed.
(2004 Code, sec. 95.23)
