(a) 
Each owner or keeper of any animal, so long as such animal is situated within the city, is hereby charged with the responsibility of controlling the conduct of any such animal at all times, regardless of whether any such animal is actually within the presence of its owner or keeper.
(b) 
All dogs shall be kept under restraint.
(c) 
Any animal running at-large is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
(d) 
Any person, at their own risk, may seize, impound or restrain any animal the person finds running at-large in the city and may hold such animal for the animal control officer or police or deliver such animal to the city shelter.
(e) 
No person shall expose any known poisonous substance, whether mixed with food or not, so that the same shall be liable to be eaten by any animal, provided that it shall be lawful for a person to expose on his own property common rat poison mixed only with vegetable substance, except by owner contracted pest control.
(f) 
No person shall tease or agitate a restrained animal.
(Ordinance 653-24 adopted 8/19/2024)
(a) 
Any person owning, keeping, harboring, or having custody of any dog or cat over four (4) months of age within the city shall provide each animal with a collar, harness or other tethering device which shall be worn by the animal at all times.
(b) 
Every dog or cat over four (4) months of age within the city must have an annual rabies vaccination by a licensed veterinarian or anti-rabies clinic. A current metallic rabies tag shall be securely fastened to the animal's collar, harness or other tethering device at all times.
(c) 
The owner must identify each animal by tag, tattoo, micro-chip or other means with the owner's telephone number or address.
(d) 
Persons who fail to vaccinate or identify each animal as specified in this section will be subject to a fine in accordance with the general penalty provision found in section 1.106 of this code.
(e) 
Any citation issued hereunder for failure to have an animal properly vaccinated shall be dismissed upon proof of proper vaccination prior to the date of the citation that must be provided to the municipal court within ten (10) days of the date of the citation.
(Ordinance 653-24 adopted 8/19/2024)
(a) 
For the purpose of V.T.C.A., Health & Safety Code, section 826.017, the animal control officer shall serve as "rabies control officer" for the city.
(b) 
Every animal which bites, scratches or breaks the skin of a person shall be promptly reported to the animal control officer not later than twenty-four (24) hours from the time of the incident, and shall thereupon be securely quarantined at the direction of the city police or animal control officer for observation period, and shall not be released from quarantine except by written permission of the animal control officer or other police officer. Subject to the provisions of subsection (c) next below, the owner may, at the owner's option and expense, quarantine in a veterinary hospital. If the biting animal cannot be maintained in secure quarantine, it shall be humanely destroyed and the brain submitted to the department of state health services certified laboratory for rabies diagnosis.
(c) 
The owner, upon demand made by the animal control officer, shall forthwith surrender any animal which has bitten, scratched or broken the skin of a human, or which is suspected of having been exposed to rabies, for supervised quarantine and observation period, which expense shall be borne by the owner, and which animal may be reclaimed by the owner if adjudged free of rabies, and upon payment of fees set forth in appendix A, article 3.000 of this code, and upon compliance with the licensing provisions of this chapter, if same have not already been complied with. If the animal has inflicted multiple bite wounds, punctures, or lacerations to the face, head, or neck of a person, the chief of police may order the animal to be humanely killed and the brain tested for rabies. A dog or cat which has bitten a human and has been designated by the police chief as unclaimed, shall be humanely destroyed and the brain submitted to a department of state health services certified laboratory for rabies diagnosis.
(d) 
When an animal under quarantine has been diagnosed as being rabid, or suspected by a licensed veterinarian as being rabid, and dies while under observation, the animal control officer shall immediately send the head of such animal to the department of state health services for pathological examination, and shall notify the proper public health officer of reports of human contacts, and the diagnosis made of the suspected animal.
(e) 
The animal control officer shall direct the disposition of any animal found to be infected by rabies. If the biting animal is a high risk animal, it shall be humanely killed and the brain submitted for rabies testing. No wild animals will be placed in quarantine. All wild animals involved in biting incidents will be humanely killed in such a manner that the brain is not mutilated. The brain shall be submitted to the a department of state health services certified laboratory for rabies diagnosis. If the biting animal is a low risk animal, neither quarantine nor rabies test will be required unless the chief of police has cause to believe the biting animal is rabid, in which case it should be humanely killed and tested for rabies. Currently vaccinated animals which have been bitten or otherwise significantly exposed to a rabid animal or its fresh tissues, if sufficient justification for preserving the animal exists, the exposed vaccinated animal should be given a booster rabies vaccination immediately and placed in strict isolation for forty-five (45) days.
(f) 
No person shall fail or refuse to surrender any animal for quarantine as required herein when demand is made therefor by the animal control officer.
(Ordinance 653-24 adopted 8/19/2024)
(a) 
It shall be the duty of the animal control officer to apprehend and impound in a pen to be provided by the city for that purpose and called the "animal shelter," the following: Any animal running at-large in violation of sections 2.301 through 2.303 of this article.
(b) 
It is controlling provided, however, that if any animal being dangerous, fierce or vicious, cannot be safely taken up and impounded, such animal may be slain by the animal control officer.
(c) 
If any animal is not redeemed and taken from said shelter within the time required under the provision of this article, then the animal control officer shall advertise said animal for adoption for twenty-four (24) hours by posting notice of said adoption at the bulletin board at the police station of said city, as well as on the police department's social media page, which notice shall give the time and place of the adoption and a brief description of the animal to be adopted, and shall, if said animal is not redeemed, then humanely destroy said animal at the direction of the animal control officer.
(d) 
The owner of any properly vaccinated and identified animal(s) captured or impounded under the provisions of this article shall be notified of said capture or impounding and allowed at any time within three (3) business days of said notification, to redeem, reclaim, and again receive possession of said animal(s), upon payment to the animal control officer of an impounding fee as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code for each animal, plus a boarding fee as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code, during which time said animal(s) may have been impounded, which sums shall be paid over by the police or animal control officer to the city secretary for the use and benefit of said city.
(e) 
The owner of any animal(s) captured or impounded under the provisions of this article, which animal(s) are not properly vaccinated or identified in accordance with section 2.303 of this article, shall be permitted and allowed at any time within forty-eight (48) hours after such animal(s) have been impounded, to redeem, reclaim, and again receive possession of said animal(s), as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code, and display proof of compliance.
(f) 
Should the owner of said animal or animals fail to redeem the same as provided for in subsections (d) and (e) next above within three (3) business days, then said animal or animals shall be advertised for adoption or humanely destroyed in the manner provided for in this chapter.
(g) 
Dogs shall be impounded to the animal shelter. Cats shall be taken to the veterinarian clinic. Hoofed livestock are to be placed back on the owners property or the auction barn at the expense of the owner. Fowl will not be impounded but will be allowed to be recaptured by their owners immediately, or as soon as possible depending on the circumstances. The animal control officer is not responsible for the capture of wild animals.
(h) 
It shall be unlawful for any person other than the animal control officer to release or attempt to release any animal from the animal shelter. Each animal so released from the animal shelter shall constitute a separate violation of this provision.
(Ordinance 653-24 adopted 8/19/2024)
It shall be unlawful for any person to tie or tether a dog or other animal to a stationary object or motor vehicle for a period of time or in a location so as to create an unhealthy situation for the animal or a potentially dangerous situation for a pedestrian as determined by the animal control officer pursuant to Tex. Health & Safety Code, sec. 821.102, as amended.
(Ordinance 653-24 adopted 8/19/2024)