[Adopted 3-14-2023 by Ord. No. 946-2023[1]]
For the purpose of this article, the following terms shall have
the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context
in which the word is used clearly indicates otherwise:
Any dog, cat, domesticated animal or nondomesticated animal.
The Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The governing body of the Borough.
Any person who provides care, including food, water, shelter,
and, in some cases, medical care to feral cats, and in accordance
with a program approved by the Borough, to trap, neuter, vaccinate,
ear-tip, and return feral cats to the location at which they were
trapped.
An unowned free-roaming cat that is partially socialized
or unsocialized to humans and tends to resist contact with humans.
A population of feral/unsocialized cats that live together
in a specific location and utilize a common food source.
A vehicle which is self-propelled, except one which is propelled
solely by human power or electric power obtained by overhead trolley
wires, but not operated upon rails.
An animal shall be considered a nuisance if it habitually
trespasses upon or damages either private or public property or annoys
or harms lawful users or occupants thereof.
Any person having a right of property in, having custody
of or who harbors or permits a dog, cat, domestic animal, or any nondomesticated
animal to remain on or around his or her property, excluding feral
cat caregivers as defined herein.
A natural person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation.
Any person employed by the Borough whose duty it is to preserve
peace or to make arrests or to enforce the law, including auxiliary
police.
Being upon any public highway, street, alley, park or any
other public land or upon property of another person other than the
owner and not being firmly secured by means of a collar and chain
or other device so that it cannot stray or not being accompanied by
or under the reasonable contact of some person.
An eligible animal welfare organization appointed by the
Borough to run a TNR program in the Borough.
Any cat whose owner or keeper from time to time allows the
cat to run free off of the property of the owner or keeper.
A nonlethal approach to feral cat population control where
feral cats are humanely trapped, sterilized, vaccinated, ear-tipped,
and then returned to the location where they were originally trapped.
Every device in, upon or by which any person or property
is or may be transported or driven upon any highway, street, road
or alley, except devices used exclusively upon rails or tracks.
No person shall allow any animal confined on that person's
premises to make any loud or harsh noise or disturbance which shall
interfere with or deprive the peace, quiet, rest or sleep of any person
within the Borough.
A.
No person shall allow any animal owned by him under his control to
defecate on any sidewalk, walkway, or the property of another without
immediately cleaning it up.
B.
Any vision- or mobility-impaired person who relies upon a dog specifically
trained for such purposes shall be exempt from compliance with this
section.
A.
No person shall permit any animal owned by him or under his supervision
or control to run at large at any time upon the public streets, alleys,
highways, or public grounds of the Borough or upon the private property
of any other person or upon any property other than property belonging
to the owner of such animal or to a person under whose supervision
or control such animal is being kept. An animal must be firmly secured
by means of a collar and chain or other device so that it cannot stray
or must be accompanied by or under the reasonable control of some
person.
B.
Any police officer or law enforcement officer is hereby authorized
and empowered to seize and detain any animal which is found running
at large in the Borough, or upon any property other than the property
of the owner of such animal, and unaccompanied by the owner when such
police officer or law enforcement officer is in immediate pursuit
of such animal.
C.
The provisions of this section shall apply to all animals found running
at large in violation of this section, irrespective of payment for
or issuance of any license in respect to the animal involved.
D.
Borough Council is hereby empowered and authorized to engage the
services of a qualified and suitable person to enforce the provisions
of this section.
Any police officer or law enforcement officer of the Borough is hereby authorized to seize and detain any animal running at large in violation of § 82-8 or any animal concerning which information has been received that such animal has been running at large. Any animal so seized shall be held by the Borough for 48 hours. Immediate notice of such seizure, either personally or by certified mail or email, with return receipt requested, shall be given to the person in whose name the license, if any, was issued, or his agent, to claim such animal within 48 hours after receipt hereof. In the event that the animal does not bear a proper license tag, immediate notice, either personally or by certified mail or email, return receipt requested, shall be given to the person, or his agent, known to be the owner of such animal. The owner or claimant of an animal so detained shall pay a penalty of $50 to the Borough, together with a charge as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council, per day for room and board or the daily charge of the shelter where the animal is kept, whichever amount is greater. No animal shall be returned to the owner or claimant until said penalty and expense or charges shall have been paid.
If, after 48 hours of such notice, as set forth in § 82-9, such animal has not been claimed, the police officer or law enforcement officer shall convey such animal to a shelter, animal rescue, or foster care. No licensed animal shall be adopted, sold or otherwise disposed of unless such licensed animal remains unclaimed five days after notification, evidenced by obtaining the return receipt if notified by certified mail or email. Where the owner or agent of an unlicensed animal is not known, the police officer or law enforcement officer shall convey such animal to a shelter, animal rescue, or foster care. No animal shall be sold for the purpose of vivisection or research or be conveyed in any manner for these purposes.
No person other than a person actually working a dog or other
animal for agricultural purposes shall transport or carry on any public
highway, street, road or alley such dog or other animal, unless such
dog or other animal is safely enclosed within the motor vehicle or
protected by a container, cage, cross tether or other device to prevent
the dog or other animal from falling from, being thrown from or out
of or jumping from said motor vehicle.
No person shall leave a dog or other animal in any unattended
motor vehicle without adequate ventilation or sanitary conditions
or in such a manner as to subject the dog or other animal to extreme
temperature which adversely affects the health or safety of the dog
or other animal.
It shall be unlawful to keep or maintain within the Borough
any pig, hog or swine. The keeping or maintaining of any such pig,
hog or swine within the Borough is hereby found and determined by
Borough Council to constitute a public nuisance.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any owner of any cat to permit such cat
to run free outside the residence of its owner or keeper unless said
cat has been:
It shall be unlawful for any person to continue to feed stray
or feral cats where such feeding causes a nuisance to neighbors or
creates a condition contrary to the health, safety and welfare of
the community, unless that person participates in a trap, neuter and
return program managed by the Borough or a sponsor of the Borough.
Animal welfare organizations may make application to the Borough
to serve as the sponsor of a TNR program. Sponsors appointed by the
Borough shall have the following responsibilities:
A.
Register each feral cat colony they are managing with the Borough.
Information submitted to the Borough shall include general location
(neighborhood), number of cats in the feral cat colony, and number
of caretakers working with the feral cat colony.
B.
Record and report to the Borough, on an annual basis, the intake
and disposition of each feral cat brought to their facility.
C.
Record and report to the Borough, on an annual basis, the total number
of members and the number of sterilized members of each feral cat
colony within the Borough for which they have implemented a TNR program.
D.
Record and report to the Borough, on an annual basis, the number
of kittens born into each feral cat colony within the Borough for
which they have implemented a TNR program.
E.
Address complaints received by the Borough and passed along to the
sponsor regarding caretaker behavior, and serve as an intermediary
to address and, where possible, remediate the behavior within a reasonable
period of time, based on the matters at issue and utilizing Borough
resources where necessary.
A.
Any person who violates any provision of this article shall be charged
with a summary offense and shall be fined not less than $100 nor more
than $500 and all costs of prosecution for the first offense or be
imprisoned for not more than 90 days, or both.
B.
For any subsequent offense that occurs within one year of sentencing
for the prior violation, a person shall be charged with a misdemeanor
of the third degree and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less
than $500 nor more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution, or to imprisonment
of not more than one year, or both.
C.
Each day there is a violation may count as a separate violation.
