(a) Owner’s duty to provide food, shelter, and care.
The owner or person who has custody or control of any animal shall:
(1) Keep the animal in clean, sanitary, and healthy condition;
(2) Provide the animal sufficient nutritious and wholesome food, served
to the animal in clean containers, to maintain the animal’s
good health;
(3) Provide the animal constant and adequate supply of fresh, clean,
potable water served from a clean container that keeps the animal
hydrated for environmental conditions;
(4) Provide the animal care and veterinarian medical treatment for injuries,
parasites, and disease that is sufficient to maintain the animal in
good health and minimize and prevent suffering;
(5) Maintain the animal’s shelter (pens, kennels, coops, fenced
areas and enclosures of any kind) in sanitary condition, including,
but not limited to, disposing all animal waste promptly, and all pens
and enclosures shall be cleaned as needed to prevent odors and not
attract insects or other vermin or create a nuisance; and
(6) Provide the animal with adequate shelter that:
(A) Is large enough for the animal to enter, stand, turnaround, and lie
down in a natural manner;
(C) Provides the animal natural or artificial shade from direct sunlight;
(D) Protects the animal from excessive heat and cold and other adverse
weather conditions; and
(E) Is adequately ventilated.
(b) Abuse of animals prohibited.
No person shall beat, cruelly
ill-treat, torment, mentally abuse, overload, overwork, or otherwise
abuse an animal, or cause, instigate or permit any dog fight, cock
fight, or other combat between animals or between animals and humans.
(c) Abandoning an animal.
It shall be unlawful for an owner
or other person having custody or control of any animal to abandon
such animal, including the abandonment of any animal at the animal
control facility.
(d) Cropping, docking, or castrating.
It shall be unlawful
for a person other than a licensed veterinarian to crop a dog’s
ears, dock an animal’s tail; or castrate an animal; provided,
however, that this section shall not apply to normal livestock operations
occurring within the city.
(e) Striking animal with vehicle.
The operator of any motor
vehicle which strikes or injures a domesticated animal shall stop
and immediately render aid and report such incident to the animal
control authority or the police.
(f) Tying dogs and other animals.
A person commits an offense
if the person ties or tethers a dog or other animal in an unenclosed
front or back yard, or by a fixed point, chain, or tether so as to
create, as determined by the animal control authority, an unhealthy
situation for the animal or a potentially dangerous situation for
a person or another animal. A person restraining a dog with a chain
or tether shall attach the chain or tether to a properly fitted collar,
not wrap a chain or tether directly around the animal’s neck.
(1) An owner may not leave an animal outside and unattended by use of
a restraint that unreasonably limits the animal’s movement:
(A) Between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.;
(B) Within 500 feet of the premises of a school; or
(C) In the case of extreme weather conditions, including conditions in
which:
(i)
The actual or effective outdoor temperature is below 32 degrees
Fahrenheit;
(ii)
A heat advisory has been issued by a local or state authority
or jurisdiction; or
(iii)
A hurricane, tropical storm, or tornado warning has been issued
for the jurisdiction by the National Weather Service.
(2) A restraint unreasonably limits an animal’s movement if the
restraint:
(A) Uses a collar that is pinch-type, prong-type, or choke-type or that
is not properly fitted to the animal;
(B) Is a length shorter than the greater of:
(i)
Five times the length of the animal, as measured from tip of
the animal’s nose to the base of its tail; or
(C) Is in an unsafe condition; or
(D) Causes injury to the animal.
(3)
(A) An animal restrained to a running line, pulley, or trolley system
and that is not restrained to the running line, pulley, or trolley
system by means of a pinch-type, prong-type, choke-type, or improperly
fitted collar;
(B) An animal restrained in compliance with the requirements of a camping
or recreational area as defined by a federal, state, or local authority
or jurisdiction;
(C) An animal restrained for a reasonable period, not to exceed three
hours in a 24-hour period, and no longer than is necessary for the
owner to complete a temporary task that requires the animal to be
restrained;
(D) An animal restrained while the owner is engaged in, or actively training
for, an activity that is conducted pursuant to a valid license issued
by the state if the activity for which the license is issued is associated
with the use or presence of the animal;
(E) An animal restrained while the owner is engaged in conduct directly
related to the business of shepherding or herding cattle or livestock;
or
(F) An animal restrained while the owner is engaged in conduct directly
relating to the business of cultivating agricultural products, if
the restraint is reasonably necessary for the safety of the animal.
(4) A restrained animal must have access to water and shelter from the
elements, have a restraint that does not become entangled, and stay
within the owner’s property.
(5) Penalty.
(A) A peace officer or animal control officer who has probable cause
to believe that an owner is violating this article shall provide the
owner with a written statement of that fact. The statement must be
signed by the officer and plainly state the date on which and the
time at which the statement is provided to the owner.
(B) A person commits an offense if the person is provided a statement as described in subsection
(f)(5)(A) and fails to comply with this article within 24 hours of the time the owner is provided the statement. An offense under this section is a class C misdemeanor.
(C) A person commits an offense if the person violates this article and
has previously been convicted of an offense under this article. An
offense under this section is a class B misdemeanor as provided in
Texas Health and Safety Code sec. 821.079.
(D) If a person fails to comply with this section with respect to more
than one animal, the person’s conduct with respect to each animal
constitutes a separate offense.
(E) If conduct constituting an offense under this section also constitutes
an offense under any other law, the actor may be prosecuted under
this section, the other law, or both.
(6) Hand-held leashes.
This section does not prohibit a
person from walking an animal with a hand-held leash.
(g) Fences/enclosures.
A person commits an offense if the
person keeps a dog or other animal within a fence/enclosure which
is in such a state of disrepair that the animal may escape or be injured
or may pose a threat to passersby.
(h) Young rabbits and fowl.
A person commits an offense
if the person sells, offers for sale, barters or gives away as toys,
premiums or novelties, baby chickens, ducklings or other fowl under
three weeks old and rabbits under two months old, unless the manner
or method of display is first approved by the animal control authority.
(i) Dyed animals.
A person commits an offense if the person
colors, dyes, stains or otherwise changes the natural color of any
chickens, ducklings, other fowl or rabbits, or possesses, for the
purpose of sale or to be given away, any of the above-mentioned animals
which have been so colored.
(j) Animals not to be used as prizes or inducements.
A person
commits an offense if the person gives away or auctions any animal
as a prize for, or as an inducement to enter any contest, game or
competition, or as an inducement to enter a place of amusement, or
offer such animal as an incentive to enter into any business establishment
whereby the offer was for the purpose of attracting trade.
(k) Hunting and trapping.
No person may hunt, trap, wound,
kill, maim, torture or otherwise threaten the health and safety of
any indigenous wild animal in the city limits, excluding the trapping
of nuisance wildlife under the authorization and supervision of the
animal control authority; also excluding any person who holds a seasonal
hunting license for a species for which there exists a hunting season,
and that person’s hunting activities occur on property which
is properly zoned, and property owner’s permission has been
granted for such activity; or a person holds proper permits issued
by the animal control authority or Texas Parks and Wildlife.
(l) Animals in parked vehicles.
A person commits an offense
if the person leaves any animal in any standing or parked vehicle
in such a way as to endanger the animal’s health, safety or
welfare. The animal control authority or peace officer is authorized
to use reasonable force to remove an animal from a vehicle whenever
it appears the animal’s health, safety or welfare is or soon
will be endangered, and said animal shall be impounded.
(m) Seizure.
The animal control authority shall liberally
utilize the authority granted by Texas Health and Safety Code sec.
821.022 to seize and impound any animal, if the animal control authority
has reason to believe that an animal has been or is being cruelly
treated, pending a hearing before the municipal court 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 delay endangers
the life of or would unreasonably prolong the suffering of the subject
animal.
(n) Displaying for commercial purposes.
(1) A person commits an offense if the person displays any live animal
for a commercial purpose on any roadside, public right-of-way, or
commercial parking lot. Commercial purpose shall include, but not
be limited to, intent to sell, trade, barter, lease, rent, or give
away, any live animal.
(2) A person commits an offense if the person receives any live animal
through sale, trade, barter, lease, rent, or give away conducted on
any roadside, public right-of-way, or commercial parking lot.
(o) Class A misdemeanors.
A person commits a class A misdemeanor
offense if that person violates V.T.C.A., Penal Code sections 42.09,
42.091, or 42.092, as currently written or as may be amended.
(p) Class C misdemeanors.
The animal control authority shall
determine whether to file a violation of this section as a class C
misdemeanor or class A misdemeanor depending on the degree of abuse
or neglect.
(q) Other law.
The actions prohibited by this section are
in addition to any prohibitions existing elsewhere in the city’s
code or any applicable state or federal law. Nothing in this section
shall be construed to limit any duty imposed on an owner by any other
provisions of this code or any applicable state or federal law.
(Ordinance 558-19 adopted 9/9/19)