Any dog or cat four months of age or older.
Any living creature, including but not limited to, dogs, cats, pigs, horses, birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, insects, fowl and livestock, but specifically excluding humans.
The individual or agency, designated by the city administrator, which is authorized to represent and act for the city to receive reports of animal nuisances, animals at large, animal bites, and other animal matters, and to serve as the local rabies control authority, investigating bite reports, ensuring quarantine of possibly rabid animals, and carrying out provisions of state law pertaining to control and eradication of rabies and otherwise enforcing the provisions of this article.
Any facility designated and/or operated by the city for the purpose of impounding and caring for animals held under authority of this article.
Any animal of any family or breed which is off premises of the owner and is not either:
Restrained by means of a crate, carrier, leash or chain, as described in section 2.05.004 of this chapter, or by other physical apparatus of sufficient strength and length to preclude the animal from making any unsolicited contact with any person, their clothing, their property, or their premises; or
Confined within the animal owner or handler’s vehicle in such a manner as to preclude the animal from making any unsolicited contact with any person, their clothing, their property, or their premises, provided such confinement is in accordance with section 2.05.010 of this chapter.
Physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition.
A domesticated member of the family Felidae (fells catus).
The City of Hudson Oaks, Texas.
The corporate city limits of Hudson Oaks, Texas.
Any collar constructed of nylon, leather, or similar material, specifically designed to be used for a dog or cat. Properly fitted collar means, with respect to a collar, a collar that measures the circumference of the animal’s neck plus at least one inch.
Any treatment to any animal in violation of the Texas Penal Code.
Vaccinated for rabies and satisfying the following criteria:
An animal that:
Makes an unprovoked attack on a person or other domestic animal that causes serious bodily injury or death; or
Is not in a secure enclosure or safely restrained as described in article 2.07 of this chapter, and acts, unprovoked, in such a way as to cause a person to reasonably believe that the animal will attack and cause bodily injury, serious bodily injury, or death to that person or another domestic animal.
An animal of a species, other than a common domestic species, that poses a potential physical or disease threat to the public regardless of state and duration of captivity, including but not limited to the following:
Class reptilia.
Family Helodermatidae (venomous lizards); family Viperidae (rattlesnakes, copperheads, cotton mouths, other pit vipers and true vipers); family Elapidae (coral snakes, cobras, mambas and other elapid); the following listed species of family Colubridae – Dispholidus typos (bloom slang), Hydrodynastes gigas (water cobra), Boiga (mangrove snake) and Thelotornis (African twig snake) only; order Phidia, family Doidae (racers, boas, water snakes and pythons) and other Crocodilia (crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gavials);
Class aves.
Order Falconiforms (such as hawks, eagles and vultures); subdivision Ratitae (such as rheas, and cassowaines); and order Sting forms (such as owls);
Class mammalia.
Order Carnivora, family Felidae (such as lions, cheetahs, bobcats, lynxes, servals, caracals, ocelots, margays, tigers, jaguars, binturongs, leopards and cougars), except commonly accepted domesticated cats; family Canidae (such as wolves, dingoes, hyenas, coyotes, jackals or hybrids thereof), except domesticated dogs, family Mustelidae (such as weasels, skunks, martins, mink and badgers), except ferrets; family Procyonidae (raccoon); family Ursidae (such as bears); order Marsupialia (such as kangaroos and common opossums); order Edentata (such as sloths, anteaters and armadillos); order Proboscidae (elephants); order Primata (such as monkeys, chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas); and order Ungulata (such as antelope, deer, bison and camels, except where harbored on property which is zoned for agricultural use as is at least five (5) acres); and
Other dangerous animals not listed.
The animal control authority may declare any species of animal not listed in this definition as prohibited if the confinement of the animal within the city is shown to constitute a threat to public health and/or safety.
Any domesticated member of the family Canidae, but shall not include a wolf, jackal, coyote, fox or other dangerous wild animal of this family or hybrid thereof.
Chickens, turkeys, pheasant, quail, geese, ducks, ostriches, emus, pigeons, or similar feathered animals regardless of age, sex or breed.
To feed, shelter or maintain any animal, fowl, livestock or wildlife.
The product of mating two different species of animal regardless of the number of generations born since that original mating.
Any premises where any person engages in the business of boarding, breeding, buying, letting for hire, or selling dogs, cats, or other animals and that is located within the corporate limits on property zoned to allow such use as permitted by the city’s zoning regulations.
Horses, mules, donkeys, cattle, goats, sheep, emus, and ostriches, llamas, alpacas, and any member of the order Ungulata (such as antelope, deer, bison and camels) regardless of age, sex, size or breed.
A passive electronic device implanted under the skin of an animal for the purpose of identifying its owner. Each microchip shall contain a unique and original number that is read by an electronic scanning device for purposes of animal identification and recovery by the animal’s owners. The microchip implant shall be supplied with an exterior collar-type tag for purposes of an external means of notifying others that the animal has been implanted with a microchip.
Any animal which negatively impacts the health, safety, property, or environment of another animal or person, including, but not limited to, any animal which:
Molests passersby or passing vehicles;
Attacks other domestic animals;
Trespasses on school grounds;
Is repeatedly at large;
Climbs upon a motor vehicle belonging to another;
Damages private or public property not belonging to the animal’s owner;
Barks, whines, or howls in an excessive, continuous, or untimely fashion;
Tears, punctures, or otherwise opens refuse containers, causing their contents to be emptied or exposed to the elements;
Causes fouling of the air by odor, thereby creating an unreasonable annoyance or discomfort to a person of ordinary sensibilities in close proximity to the premises where the animal is kept or harbored;
Defecates on any property except that belonging to the animal’s owner; or
Interferes with refuse collection or other service personnel.
Any person, firm or corporation that has a property right in an animal, or who has care, control, custody, possession of or harbors an animal, or who provides a premises to which the animal returns for food, shelter or care. An animal shall be deemed to be owned by a person who harbored it, fed it, or sheltered it for three (3) or more consecutive days.
Any spectacle, display, or act or event, other than circuses, in which animals perform tricks, feats, or other exhibitions of training.
Any individual, firm, association, syndicate, partnership, corporation, or other entity.
An establishment offering small animals such as dogs, cats, birds, fish, ferrets, and similar animals which are not dangerous wild animals or livestock, for sale, and that is located within the corporate limits on property zoned to allow such use as permitted by the city’s zoning regulations.
The requirement for all dogs and cats and any animal declared to be dangerous to be registered annually with the city, for all relevant fees to be paid, and for all animals to wear appropriate city-issued registration tag(s).
A chain, rope, tether, leash, cable, or other device that attaches or ties a dog or other animal to a stationary object or trolley system.
A fenced area that is locked; capable of preventing the entry of the general public, including children; capable of preventing the escape or release of an animal; and, if applicable, clearly marked as containing a dangerous dog.
An injury characterized by bite wounds or ripping and tearing of muscle and/or bodily tissues that would cause a reasonably prudent person to seek treatment from a medical professional and would require hospitalization without regard to whether the person actually sought medical treatment.
Any person providing legitimate, authorized service to a property including, but not limited to, public safety personnel, utility technicians, letter carriers, couriers, or delivery personnel, plumbers, electricians, lawn maintenance workers, pest control professionals, or contractors, and other comparable service professions.
A medical procedure removing the reproductive organs or otherwise rendering a dog or cat unable to reproduce.
Pigs, hogs, potbellied pigs, or any member of the family Suidae.
The animal was not hit, kicked, struck, pulled, pinched, squeezed, etc. by a person or an object, and the animal was not provoked or taunted in a manner that an ordinary person would find unreasonable or objectionable.
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.