The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Animal
means any live, vertebrate creature, whether domestic or
wild.
Cat
means any live or dead cat (Felis catus).
Currently vaccinated
means vaccinated and satisfying the following criteria:
(1)
The animal must have been at least three months of age at the
time of vaccination.
(2)
At least 30 days have elapsed since the initial vaccination.
(3)
Not more than 12 months have elapsed since the most recent vaccination.
Dog
means any live or dead dog (Canis familiaris).
Domestic animal
includes all species of animals commonly and universally
accepted as being domesticated.
Handling fees
mean fees assessed for the capture, pickup, and transportation
to the animal control facility, and such fees shall be in accordance
with the city’s rate and fee schedule, section 400-1.
Harboring
means the act of keeping and caring for an animal or of providing
a premises to which the animal returns for food, shelter or care for
a period of ten days.
Impoundment fees
mean the fees assessed for the keeping, feeding, and watering
of animals at the animal control facility, and such fees shall be
in accordance with the city’s rate and fee schedule, section
400-2.
Local health authority
means a person designated by the city to receive reports
of animal bites, investigate bite reports, insure quarantine of possibly
rabid animals and otherwise carry out provisions of state law pertaining
to control and eradication of rabies.
Owner
means any person who has right of property in an animal or
who harbors an animal or allows an animal to remain about his premises
for a period of ten days.
Pet animal
includes dogs, cats, rabbits, rodents, birds, reptiles and
any other species of animal which is sold or retained as a household
pet but shall not include skunks, nonhuman primates and any other
species of wild, exotic or carnivorous animal that may be further
restricted in this chapter.
Running at large
means not completely confined by a building, wall or fence
of sufficient strength or construction to restrain the animal, except
when such animal is either on a leash or held in the hands of the
owner or keeper, or under direct supervision of the owner within the
limits of the owner’s private property. An animal within an
automobile or other vehicle of its owner shall not be deemed running
at large.
Stray animal
means any animal for which there is no identifiable owner
or harborer.
Vaccinated
means properly injected with a rabies vaccine licensed for
use in that species by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Vicious animal
means any individual animal or any species that has on two
previous occasions without provocation attacked or bitten any person
or other animal, or any individual animal which the local health authority
has reason to believe has a dangerous disposition, or any species
of animal which the local health authority has reason to believe has
a dangerous disposition likely to be harmful to humans or other animals.
Wild animal
includes all species of animals which commonly exist in a
natural unconfined state and are usually not domesticated, including,
but not limited to the following: a lion, tiger, ocelot, cougar, leopard,
cheetah, jaguar, bobcat, lynx, serval, caracal, hyena, bear, coyote,
jackal, baboon, chimpanzee, orangutan, gorilla, bat, skunk, poisonous
reptile, a wild animal whose normal mature weight exceeds 40 pounds,
and any hybrid of any animal falling under this definition. This shall
apply regardless of state or duration of captivity.
(Ordinance 689 adopted 9/22/04)
Except as otherwise stated, violations of this chapter are punishable as provided in section
1-14.
(Ordinance 689 adopted 9/22/04)
(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 or police officer shall
have the authority to issue citations for any violation of this chapter.
(c) If the
person being cited is not present, the local health authority or animal
control officer or police officer may send the citation to the alleged
offender by registered or certified mail.
(d) It shall
be unlawful for any person to interfere with the local health authority
or animal control officer or police officer in the performance of
duties.
(Ordinance 689 adopted 9/22/04)
It shall be unlawful for any dog or other animal possessed,
kept or harbored, other than a cat, to run at large.
(Ordinance 689 adopted 9/22/04)
The following acts or conditions are unlawful and a nuisance.
No person shall commit such an act or allow such a condition to exist
on property under his care, custody or control:
(1) The keeping
of any animal which by causing frequent or long continued barking,
cry or noise shall disturb any person of ordinary sensitivities in
the vicinity.
(2) The keeping
of any animal in such 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.
(3) All animal
pens, stables or enclosures in which any animal may be kept or confined
which, from use, have become offensive to a person of ordinary sensitivities.
(4) The keeping
of bees in such a manner as to deny the lawful use of adjacent property
or endanger personal health and welfare.
(5) Persistent
laxness in supervision of cats so that their running at large results
in disturbance to persons of ordinary sensitivities.
(6) The keeping of any prohibited animal (section
4-6) and or the keeping of any vicious animal (section
4-7).
(Ordinance 689 adopted 9/22/04)
(a) It shall
be unlawful to own, possess, confine, or care for any wild animal
inside the city.
(b) It shall
be unlawful to release or allow to run at large any wild or vicious
animal.
(c) It shall
be unlawful to confine or keep any swine within the city, except in
or at:
(1) A publicly
or privately owned zoo maintained or operated by a nonprofit organization
or governmental entity;
(2) A publicly
or privately maintained circus, traveling show or rodeo which does
not remain in the city for longer than 30 days out of each year;
(4) Hospitals,
clinics and other premises operated by licensed veterinarians for
the care and treatment of animals; and
(5) An
agricultural space district as provided by the city zoning ordinances,
and the swine are kept no closer than 600 feet from any residential
district, church or school.
(d) It shall
be unlawful to harbor or keep more than four dogs or four cats, or
any combination of cats and dogs when the total exceeds four such
animals over the age of ten weeks except in an animal pound, clinic,
hospital or kennel.
(Ordinance 689 adopted 9/22/04)
(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) The animal
control officer may order any owner or person having care, control
or custody of any vicious animal to take such animal permanently from
the city. This animal must be removed immediately following receipt
of such an order, even if an appeal is initiated. This order may be
appealed in writing within ten days to a committee made up of the
chief of police or his representative, the city manager or his representative,
and the city attorney or his representative. Such committee 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. If the committee upholds the animal
control’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 such animal as provided for in subsections
(a) and
(b) of this section, such animal may be impounded and/or destroyed.
(d) The owner
or person having care, custody and control of a vicious animal must
report the disposition and relocation of such animal to the animal
control officer in writing, within ten days after the expiration date
for removal of such animal from the city. Each day thereafter such
information is not provided shall constitute a separate offense.
(e) The animal
control officer or a police 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.
(Ordinance 689 adopted 9/22/04)
(a) Running
at large.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or keeper
of any horse, mule, donkey, cow, cattle, sheep, goat, or any related
animal of the equine, bovine, ovine, or antelope families, to permit
the same to run at large. The running at large of horses, mules, donkeys,
cattle, sheep, goats, or related animals of the equine, bovine, ovine,
or antelope family, is hereby declared a nuisance.
(b) Grazing.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or keeper of any animal named in subsection
(a) to permit any such animal to graze upon or be unattended on any public street or thoroughfare within the city, or to permit the same to graze or go upon any public or private property within the city, except by permission of the owner or custodian of such private or public property.
(c) Owner
of premises may confine, etc.
If any animal named in
this section is found upon the premises of any person without permission,
the owner or occupant of such premises shall have the right to confine
such animal until he can notify the police chief or other designated
officer of the city. When so notified, such official shall cause such
animal to be impounded.
(Ordinance 689 adopted 9/22/04)
It shall be unlawful for any person owning or having possession
of any animal to release the animal within the city with the intention
of abandoning the animal to run at large as a stray animal.
(Ordinance 689 adopted 9/22/04)