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:
shall mean an animal which has been deserted, relinquished,
or forsaken by its owner or which has no apparent owner, including
stray or lost animals.
shall mean any living vertebrate or invertebrate, domestic
or wild, not including man.
shall mean the person(s) appointed by the chief of police
with the consent of the city manager, to provide animal control and
animal care services.
shall mean off the premises of the owner and not under the
control of the owner or his employee or his agent by means of a leash,
chain, rope, cord or such other personal presence and attention as
will reasonably control a dog's actions and conduct.
shall be intended to mean both male and female.
shall be intended to mean both male and female.
is the printed or written permission issued by the city authorizing
the holder to keep a dog and/or cat within the city. Dog and cat license
tag is a metal tag on a design prescribed by the city and bearing
the corresponding number of the dog and cat license.
means a cat that is socialized to humans and is appropriate
as a companion to humans.
means a straight line cutting of the tip of the left ear
of a cat while the cat is anesthetized.
shall mean a cat that exists in a wild or untamed state,
either due to birth or reversion to a wild state from domestication.
The usual and consistent temperament of a feral cat is extreme fear
and resistance to contact with humans. Feral cats are completely or
substantially unsocialized to humans.
shall mean a volunteer, uncompensated person who agrees to
facilitate the trap-neuter-return program in accordance with this
chapter and any rules and regulations established by the chief of
police.
shall mean a group of cats that congregates, more or less,
together as a unit. Although not every cat in a colony may be feral,
any non-feral cats that congregate with a colony shall be deemed a
part of it.
shall be intended to mean both male and female.
shall mean any person or persons, business entity or other
type of entity owning, keeping, feeding, harboring or otherwise caring
for a dog or cat, including keeping, harboring, feeding or otherwise
caring for stray dogs or cats. An owner does not include a feral cat
caregiver participating in an authorized Trap-Neuter-Return Program.
is to detain or isolate on account of suspected contagion.
means a program pursuant to which feral and stray cats are
trapped, evaluated, neutered or spayed, vaccinated against rabies
and returned to the area where they congregate.
shall be any dog which has bitten or attempted to bite or
attacked or attempted to attack any person in a vicious manner.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
The owner of any dog, cat or ferret over four (4) months of
age shall license and register such owner's dogs, cats and ferrets
yearly. Dog, cat and/or ferret licenses shall be issued by the city
administrative office upon payment of a one-time license fee of twenty
dollars ($20.00) for each dog, cat or ferret. The owner shall state
at the time application is made for such license and upon forms provided
for such purposes his name and address, and name, breed, color and
sex of each dog, cat and/or ferret. Owners of dogs, cats and/or ferrets
who show proof that their dog, cat and/or ferret has been spayed or
neutered shall be issued a license upon a one-time payment of the
license fee of five dollars ($5.00) for each dog, cat or ferret. Owners
of dogs, cats and/or ferrets who show proof that their dog, cat and/or
ferret has a microchip implant can register their animal at no charge.
Every owner shall be required to provide each dog, cat and/or
ferret with a collar and tag that shall be constantly worn. In case
a dog, cat and/or ferret tag is lost or destroyed, a duplicate receipt
shall be issued showing the payment of the license fee for the current
year and the payment of a three dollars ($3.00) fee for such duplicate.
Dog, cat and/or ferret tags shall not be transferable from one (1)
dog, cat and/or ferret to another, and no refund shall be made on
any dog, cat and/or ferret license fee because of death of the dog,
cat and/or ferret or the owner's relocation from the city.
An owner of a dog, cat and/or ferret can choose to have a RFID
(Radio Frequency Identification) implanted under the skin of the animal
performed at a veterinary hospital, in lieu of license tags. The microchip
implant does not exempt the owner of the animal from registration.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
An owner of a dog, cat or ferret must have the animal vaccinated
against rabies in a manner that satisfies the requirement of state
law. Dogs, cats and ferrets must be vaccinated against rabies prior
to four (4) months of age and again twelve (12) months after the first
rabies vaccination. Subsequent booster rabies vaccinations must be
repeated at one (1) or three (3) year intervals depending upon the
vaccine used by the veterinarian.
The licensed veterinarian vaccinating the animal shall furnish
the owner a rabies tag made of durable material. A tag issued for
a dog, cat and/or ferret must be attached to the collar of the animal
and must be worn at all times. Rabies tags are not transferable.
All dogs and cats within the city limits shall be currently
immunized against rabies.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
It shall be the duty of any person owning or having charge of
any dog or cat which may have bitten, clawed or scratched a person
to have such dog or cat confined by a licensed veterinarian for a
period of ten (10) days, and if for any reason the dog or cat is not
so confined by the owner or other person keeping the same, the police
shall impound such pet for observation. If, at the expiration of ten
(10) days, the health of the dog or cat is satisfactory, the dog or
cat may be released upon the payment by the owner of all expenses
incurred by such confinement and compliance with all provisions of
this chapter.
In the alternative, at the discretion of the chief of police,
any dog or cat subject to the requirements of this section may be
confined for the required period of time by the owner or keeper of
such dog or cat under the supervision and direction of the chief of
police or a licensed veterinarian, provided that the permission hereby
granted may be revoked by the chief of police, in which event the
dog or cat shall be immediately transferred to a licensed veterinarian.
If permitted to be confined by the owner, a licensed veterinarian
shall be required to inspect such animal a minimum of two (2) times
during the ten-day period, at the expense of the owner or keeper of
the animal and the police may inspect the dog or cat at any time.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
It shall be unlawful for any keeper of any vicious dog to permit
any such dog to run at large regardless of any other provision contained
in this chapter. Prosecution of any such owner of a vicious dog may
be instituted in municipal court by any person filing a sworn complaint
charging such owner with allowing or permitting a vicious dog to run
at large, that such dog has bitten or attempted to bite or attacked
or attempted to attack any person in a vicious manner. The person
making the complaint must not have been at the time of such attack
trespassing inside the home of the owner or within the enclosure of
the dog and be not otherwise at fault.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
It shall be unlawful for any person owning any dog to permit
it to be outside of such owner's premises upon the streets, alleys
or other public places of the city, unless the dog shall be at all
times under the control of the owner or his employee or agent by means
of a leash, chain, rope or cord of sufficient strength to control
the actions of said dog. The owner of a sexually intact (not spayed
or neutered) domesticated cat shall not permit the domesticated cat
to roam unsupervised.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
It shall be the duty of city animal care service personnel to
apprehend any dog and/or cat found roaming at large contrary to the
provisions of this chapter and to impound such dog and/or cat in a
designated veterinary hospital/quarantine facility. Any cat deemed
to be a nuisance under the provisions of this chapter by any person
filing a sworn complaint may be impounded by city animal care services
personnel. City animal care services personnel shall make a registry
of each dog and/or cat impounded, entering the breed, color and sex
and whether licensed. If licensed, he shall enter the name and address
of the owner and the number of the license tag.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
Animal care services personnel may, as an alternative to traditional
capture equipment, utilize humane cage style traps as a means of apprehending
animals deemed to be a nuisance on public property or city owned property.
Animal care services personnel shall not trap any animal on private
property unless the property owner or agent of the property owner
requests the removal of a nuisance animal. All requests for animal
care services personnel to trap on private property shall be in writing
on the applicable request form provided by the chief of police for
that purpose. Traps will not be set during weekends, city holidays
or during times of inclement weather without the authorization of
the chief of police.
If the reported nuisance animal is of any domestic species of dog, cat or ferret, notification will be made to all homeowners within a two hundred (200) foot radius of the trapping location. Notification will be in writing and distributed on a door hanger a minimum of three (3) days prior to the date trapping will begin. All trapped domestic animals shall be impounded under the provisions of section 4-7, non-domestic animals, will be relocated away from residential areas unless the animal is of a species that relocation is disallowed by state law.
Any person who is a property owner or agent of that property
owner may trap nuisance non-domestic animals on their property. The
trapping of all species of domestic animals, to include feral cats,
stray cats and stray dogs, is the responsibility of animal care services
to ensure all the provisions of animal cruelty laws are met. Any person
who traps a domestic animal, to include feral cats and stray cats
and stray dogs, may be subject to criminal prosecution if it is determined
animal cruelty laws are violated. Any person who unintentionally traps
a domestic animal, to include feral cats, stray cats and stray dogs,
shall immediately release the animal at the site where it was trapped.
The relocation and abandonment of any species of domestic animal is
prohibited by state law.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
Not later than three (3) days after the impounding of any dog
and/or cat, the owner shall be notified. If the owner of the dog and/or
cat is unknown, notice shall be posted within twenty-four (24) hours
of impoundment for three (3) consecutive days at a conspicuous place
in the Alamo Heights City Hall describing the dog and/or cat impounded.
Any facility approved by the city council as the designated veterinary
hospital/quarantine facility shall retain an impounded animal for
at least five (5) working days so that the owner of such animal shall
have the opportunity to reclaim it. If its owner does not reclaim
an impounded animal within five (5) working days from the date of
impoundment, the designated veterinary hospital/quarantine facility
may, with approval of a representative of the city, offer for adoption,
sell or dispose of such animal in accordance with standard humane
procedures, including euthanasia.
The owner may reclaim such dog and/or cat upon payment of (1)
a license fee (if unregistered), (2) an administrative fee to the
city for the impounding of said dog and/or cat, and (3) all boarding
charges due the city's designated veterinary hospital/quarantine facility.
The owner must bring proof of current rabies vaccination when reclaiming
the dog and/or cat at the city's designated veterinary hospital. If
the animal is not currently vaccinated or the owner cannot find proof
of current vaccination, the animal must be vaccinated, at the owner's
expense, prior to the animal being released.
The first time a dog and/or cat is reclaimed by its owner, no
administrative fee is charged. The second time a dog and/or cat is
reclaimed by its owner an administrative fee of thirty-five dollars
($35.00) will be charged. The third time a dog and/or cat is reclaimed
by its owner an administrative fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00)
will be charged, the fourth and all subsequent times a dog and/or
cat is reclaimed by its owner an administrative fee of two hundred
dollars ($200.00) will be charged.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
It shall be the duty of the operator of the designated veterinary
hospital/quarantine facility to keep all unclaimed dogs and/or cats
delivered to it by the city animal warden for a minimum of five (5)
working days from date of the impound. If after the expiration of
five (5) days from the date of the impound, such dog and/or cat has
not been redeemed, it may be disposed of by adoption, sale or destruction;
provided, however, if the end of the five (5) days period falls on
a Saturday or Sunday, or on a national holiday, the operator of the
designated veterinary hospital/quarantine facility shall wait until
the afternoon of the next business day prior to the adoption, sale,
or destruction of such dog and/or cat.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
No person, persons, or entity shall abandon any dog and/or cat,
which the person or entity has within his or its control either temporarily
or permanently within the corporate limits of the City of Alamo Heights,
Texas; nor shall any person, person, or entity allow any dog and/or
cat within his or its control either temporarily or permanently, to
be left without proper shelter, food and water within the corporate
limits of the city.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
No person, persons, firm, association, or corporation shall
torture, deprive of necessary sustenance, fail to provide adequate
shelter during inclement weather, unnecessarily or cruelly beat nor
needlessly mutilate or kill any animal, nor carry any animal in or
upon any vehicle, or otherwise, in a cruel or inhume manner, nor procure
the same to be done, within the corporate limits of the City of Alamo
Heights, Texas. As used in this section, the words "torture" and "cruelly"
include every act, omission or neglect whereby unnecessary pain or
suffering is caused, permitted or allowed.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
The chief of police may order the destruction of abandoned,
injured, infected or diseased animals found in the city in order to
preserve the public health, safety and welfare.
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
It shall be unlawful for any owner to fail to exercise sufficient
care of an animal to prevent such animal from becoming a nuisance.
It is hereby declared a nuisance for an animal to:
(1)
Make
or create loud and obnoxious noises such as barking, howling, or yelping
which disturbs the peace and quiet of a neighborhood or occupants
of adjacent premises;
(2)
Molest
passersby;
(3)
Chase
pedestrians, bicycles or vehicles;
(4)
Attack
other animals;
(5)
Defecate
upon public or private property other than the property of the owner;
(6)
Trespass
upon private property other than the property of the owner in such
a manner as to damage or disrupt such property, including digging
up gardens or plants and foraging or overturning trash and garbage
containers.
|
It shall also be unlawful and a nuisance for any animal owner
to permit accumulations of animal waste on his premises so as to create
noxious odors or a health hazard.
|
|
No culpable mental state shall be required to support conviction
under this section.
|
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008)
In order to effectively and humanely control feral cat populations
within its jurisdictional boundaries, the city shall sponsor a trap-neuter-return
program in an effort to reduce the feral cat population over time
without the necessity of wholesale capture and euthanasia. The city
may establish a fund or provide services to off-set the costs of trapping,
neutering, and vaccinating captured feral cats that can be returned
to an appropriate, controlled, protected, and authorized colony site.
Caregivers for colonies, whether one (1) or several feral cats, may
be aided by the city in providing traps, transportation to a spay/neuter
facility and off-setting costs, to the extent that funding is available.
Caregivers of feral cat colonies shall implement proper management
and sterilization practices and seek the assistance of animal care
services personnel and/or the chief of police in order to:
(1)
Sterilize
(spay/neuter) all adult cats that can be captured. Ear-tipping will
be used as a means of visually identifying sterilized feral cats.
(2)
Vaccinate,
as required by law, all cats that can be captured against rabies,
preferably with a three-year vaccine and against any other infectious
disease as may be mandated by law.
(3)
Make
every attempt to remove kittens from the colony before eight (8) weeks
of age for domestication and placement.
(4)
Make
every attempt to remove sick or injured cats from the colony for immediate
veterinarian care or humane euthanasia.
(5)
Caregivers
assuming responsibility for feeding feral cats will be responsible
for adhering to the following regulations in order to avoid attracting
wildlife and vermin either intentionally or unintentionally:
(1)
Feral
cats and feral cat colonies shall not be fed on city owned or public
property, to include, roadways, alleys, easements, and right-of-ways.
(2)
Feral
cats and feral cat colonies shall only be fed on private property
with authorization from the property owner or an authorized agent.
(3)
Feral
cats and feral cat colonies shall be fed using bowls, plates, pans,
or a similar utensil to contain the food; food shall not be poured
on the ground for the purpose of providing food.
(4)
Food
provided for feral cats or feral cat colonies shall not be left out
during hours of darkness to avoid attracting wildlife or vermin.
|
Animal care services personnel shall maintain all records of
their activities relating to the city trap-neuter-return program to
include proof of sterilization, vaccination, relocation, adoption,
and medical care records. Other responsibilities include:
| ||
|
(1)
|
Help to resolve complaints over the conduct of a colony caregiver
or of cats within a managed colony.
| |
|
(2)
|
Maintain records and prepare monthly reports on the following:
| |
|
|
(a)
|
Number of cats and kittens spayed and neutered pursuant to the
trap-neuter-return program; and
|
|
|
(b)
|
Number of cats and kittens placed in permanent homes.
|
|
Enforcement: The city shall retain the following rights:
| ||
|
(1)
|
The right to seize or remove cats from a colony that have not
been vaccinated against rabies and which are demonstrating signs of
the disease;
| |
|
(2)
|
The right to seize/remove a cat from a colony that is creating
a nuisance as defined in this chapter after the caregiver has been
afforded thirty (30) days to remove and relocate the cat and has failed
to do so; and
| |
|
(3)
|
The right to seize and remove a colony of cats when a caregiver
is unable to provide care and management of the colony and has not
been able to obtain a replacement or substitute caregiver.
| |
|
The provisions of this chapter notwithstanding, animal care
services personnel and police officers may investigate any nuisance
complaint.
| ||
(Ordinance 1754 adopted 2/11/2008; Ordinance 1880 adopted 9/13/2010)
