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City of Lewes, DE
Sussex County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (36) Index
[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Lewes as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Dogs — See Ch. 88.
Zoning — See Ch. 197.
[Adopted 5-12-1980]
A. 
No person shall bring into, keep, maintain or suffer or permit the keeping or maintaining of horses, donkeys, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, poultry, pigeons or any other animal, except common household pets, within the City of Lewes.
B. 
The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to any person who brings into the City a horse for the purpose of providing scenic tours in horse-drawn vehicles carrying passengers for hire during daylight hours only on a fixed route under the following terms and conditions:
[Added 7-11-1983]
(1) 
Each route shall be approved by the City Manager.
(2) 
The horse shall not be kept or maintained within the corporate limits of the City when not being used for the purpose of providing scenic tours.
(3) 
The applicable mercantile license shall be paid.
(4) 
All fees to be charged shall be approved by the City Council.
(5) 
Adequate insurance approved by the City Council shall be provided.
[Amended 9-9-2002]
Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $200 and imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 days nor more than 30 days for the first such conviction. For a second or subsequent conviction, any person, firm or corporation shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $500 and imprisonment for a term of not less than 20 days nor more than 60 days for each such conviction. Each day that a violation of any of the provisions of this article continues shall be deemed and taken to be a separate and distinct violation.
[Adopted 5-13-2019[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Art. II, Felines, adopted 9-9-2002, as amended.
A. 
Policy. It is the City's policy to enforce, so far as may be within its jurisdiction, the provisions of 11 Del. C. § 1325, Cruelty to Animals, and to further provide for humane treatment of feral and free-roaming cats.
B. 
Definitions. For the purposes of this article, any word not addressed herein shall possess the common usage definitions contained in a dictionary. For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall include the meanings respectively ascribed to them as follows:
FERAL CAT
A cat that:
(1) 
Is born in the wild or is the offspring of an owned or feral cat and which may not be socialized; or
(2) 
Is a formerly owned cat that has been abandoned and is no longer socialized.
FREE-ROAMING CAT
A cat that has no known owner or caretaker, is not wanted by its owner or caretaker, or has been deserted by its owner or caretaker.
RELOCATION OF A CAT
Releasing at large an animal trapped or otherwise captured outside of the City to any location within the City.
RETURN OF A CAT
Releasing the animal at large to the location at which it was trapped.
Consistent with 16 Del. C. § 3035F or other applicable law, any agent of the Brandywine Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ("BVSPCA"), or other state, county or municipal agency so authorized, may impound a cat owned by or in the custody or possession of a person in violation of 11 Del. Code § 1325.
The City desires to reduce the population of feral and free-roaming cats in the City humanely. Any person engaging in the trapping or removal of such cats within the City, except state, county and municipal agencies, an agent of the BVSPCA or of another no-kill animal rescue group, shall comply with the following procedures:
A. 
Traps and trapped feral or free-roaming cats.
(1) 
Live traps shall be the only trapping method employed. All trapping and catching of feral or free-roaming cats shall be performed in a humane manner. In no case shall leg traps, foothold traps, snare traps, nooses, or traps designed to be lethal or to harm trapped animals be used to trap or catch cats.
(2) 
No trap shall be left unchecked for more than two hours.
B. 
Any feral or free-roaming cat caught by any person, other than state, county and municipal agencies, an agent of the BVSPCA, or other no-kill animal rescue group(s), shall, within four hours of apprehension, be placed in the custody of:
(1) 
The BVSPCA; or
(2) 
A no-kill animal rescue group.
After compliance with the preceding section, a feral or free-roaming cat that has been caught in the City may be returned to the City. A feral or free-roaming cat that has been caught outside the City shall not be relocated to the City.
A copy of this article shall be forwarded to the BVSPCA in Georgetown, Delaware.
No cat that has an identification tag or that is known to be in the care of any person, or that has a clipped ear indicating prior capture and release, shall be trapped intentionally and, if trapped accidentally, shall be released immediately upon discovery.
Any person that fails to comply with this article shall, in addition to any other remedies at law, be fined subject to a civil fine of $500 for each violation. A code enforcement official of the City is authorized to investigate violations of this article and to impose civil fines for any violation the official deems to have occurred.