Town of Dewey Beach, DE Article I Felines

[Adopted 2-8-2003 by Ord. No. 487]

§ 60-1 Definitions. [1]

[1] Editor's Note: Pursuant to Ord. 724, adopted 1-9-2016, all definitions throughout the Code were transferred to Ch. 1, Art. III, Definitions.

§ 60-2 Cruelty.

For the purposes of this article, a person shall be guilty of cruelty to a feline when the person:

A. Subjects a domesticated feline to abandonment, cruel mistreatment, cruel neglect, or inflicts or causes to be inflicted upon a domesticated feline any form of cruelty or fails to provide a domesticated feline with proper food, drink, shelter or protection from the weather; or

B. Subjects a feral feline to cruel mistreatment or inflicts or causes to be inflicted any form of cruelty; or

C. With cruel intention, captures, detains, transports, removes or delivers any feline under false pretenses to any public or private animal shelter, veterinary clinic or other facility, or otherwise causes the same acts to be committed through acts of deception or misrepresentation of the circumstances and disposition of any such animal; or

D. Intentionally or recklessly kills or injures any feline whether belonging to the perpetrator or another; or

E. Impounds, confines or causes to be impounded or confined a living feline, and fails to supply it during such confinement with proper feed, water, proper shelter or proper veterinary care.

§ 60-3 Feline control license.

A. Any person, except the Delaware Humane Association, the Delaware Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Dewey Beach Feral Cats Society or any agent of the State of Delaware, County of Sussex or Town of Dewey Beach, who engages in the detainment of or removal of feline animals from any public street or area within the Town of Dewey Beach by trapping or any other methods, shall be required to obtain a feline control license from the Town Manager's Office and pay an annual license fee of $200.

B. An application for a feline control license shall contain, without limitation, the following:

(1) Said license application shall list the principal party together with all other persons authorized to engage in direct trapping activity, assisting with trapping activity or supervisory activity under the license. It shall be the sole responsibility of the applicant to update the listed parties subject to the license and to maintain the license's status as active, current and in good standing.

(2) Only those persons listed on the application shall be authorized to engage in such activity.

(3) Any person or employee thereof convicted of any animal cruelty offense in any jurisdiction within the five-year period prior to filing an application for licensing shall not be eligible for licensing.

(4) Falsification of an application for a feline control license shall be punishable by a fine of $500 and forfeiture of ability to hold a feline control license or engage in any type of animal control under a license held by another person within the Town limits for a period of five years.

§ 60-4 Licensing revocation.

Once licensed, any person or employee thereof convicted of cruelty or abandonment as defined in this article or convicted of violating or is otherwise guilty of failing to strictly comply with the procedures elaborated in this article shall be prohibited from obtaining or maintaining any business licenses relating to the control, possession, supervision, trapping or other activities involving animals within the Town for a period of five years following said conviction.

§ 60-5 Impoundment.

Consistent with 3 Del. C. § 7904 or other applicable law, any agent of the Delaware Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Delaware Humane Association, the Dewey Beach Feral Cats Society or any agent of the State of Delaware, County of Sussex or Town of Dewey Beach, or other state, county or municipal agency so authorized, may impound a feline owned by or in the custody or possession of a person charged with a violation of this article.

§ 60-6 Trapping procedures.

Any person engaging in the trapping or removal of felines within the Town of Dewey Beach, except agents of the Delaware Humane Association, the Delaware Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Dewey Beach Feral Cats Society or any agent of the State of Delaware, County of Sussex or Town of Dewey Beach, shall, without exception, recognize and conform to the following procedures:

A. Acquire a license in accordance with § 60-3 of this article.

B. Property owners or residents personally engaged in the capture and removal of a feline from said property owner's property shall only be exempt from compliance with Subsections A, C and D of this section.

C. Prior to engaging in the trapping or removal of felines within the Town of Dewey Beach, the person shall, no less than five days prior to the commencement of said activity, provide the Town with written notice of the exact location(s) and purpose of such proposed activity and the dates and times during which such activity shall be conducted.

D. Post a public advisory in two local newspapers of general circulation setting forth the exact location(s) and purpose of such proposed activity and the dates and times during which such activity shall be conducted. It shall be the sole responsibility of the person or persons engaging in the trapping activity to confirm that the public advisory notices were published no less than five calendar days prior to the commencement of any activity.

E. Traps and trapped animals.

(1) Live traps shall be the only trapping method employed. The utilization of leg traps shall, without exception, be prohibited.

(2) No feline shall be left in a trap for a period in excess of four hours.

(3) Once placed, no trap shall be left unattended/unchecked for a period in excess of four hours.

F. Any feline taken into custody by any person within 24 hours of capture shall be placed in the custody of:

(1) The Georgetown Division of the Delaware Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; or

(2) The Delaware Humane Association; or

(3) The Dewey Beach Feral Cat Society.

G. Any person that fails to strictly comply with the foregoing trapping procedures shall, in addition to any other remedies at law, be:

(1) Fined $500 for each violation of the foregoing procedures; and

(2) Upon conviction of any violation of this article a person shall be subject to the automatic and immediate forfeiture of any and all feline control licenses obtained in accordance with § 60-3 above.

§ 60-7 Post-capture notification.

All persons, without exception, shall, within 24 hours of a feline's capture, provide to the Town of Dewey Beach a list itemizing each feline trapped, a description of the feline, including the color, and the location and date of the trapping. A sufficient number of copies of the list shall be determined by and provided to the Town of Dewey Beach by the person to enable the filing and posting of said list by the Town.

§ 60-8 Enforcement; penalties.

A. In accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, authorized state, county and municipal authorities shall have the power to initiate criminal and/or civil proceedings and shall also have standing to seek the intervention of, review by, and subsequent awards of relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin and or prosecute any violation of this article.

B. Where a feline is thus seized, the police officer or agent is authorized to provide such care as is reasonably necessary, and where any feline thus seized is, upon examination by a licensed veterinarian, found to be disabled, injured or diseased beyond reasonable hope of recovery, the police officer or agent is authorized to provide for the humane destruction of the animal. In addition to any other penalty provided by law, the authority imposing sentence upon a conviction for such violation shall order the forfeiture or surrender of any abused, neglected or deprived feline of the defendant to the Delaware Humane Association, the Delaware Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Dewey Beach Feral Cats Society or any agent of the State of Delaware, County of Sussex or Town of Dewey Beach, and shall require that the defendant pay the cost of the keeping, care and/or as may be necessary, the destruction of the animal.

C. Unless otherwise established herein the following fines and penalties shall apply to § 60-8 of this article:

(1) Cruelty shall, in addition to such other punishment as is applicable under the laws of the State of Delaware, be punishable by a fine of $250 for the first offense and $500 for the second and each subsequent offense unless the person intentionally or recklessly kills or causes serious injury to any feline in violation of this subsection, in which case such action shall, in addition to such other punishment as is applicable under the laws of the State of Delaware, be punishable by a fine of $500 for each such offense.

(2) Any person subject to the licensing procedures set forth in this article that engages in any act or activity controlled by the animal control licensing procedure prior to obtaining the proper license shall, without exception, be subject to a fine of $500 and shall further be prohibited from obtaining any business licenses relating to the control, possession, supervision, trapping or other activities involving animals within the Town of Dewey Beach as defined herein, for a period of five years following said conviction.

(3) Once obtained, the failure to maintain a license in good standing or to maintain an accurately updated animal control license shall result in a fine of $100 for each violation.

(4) The fines set forth above shall be in addition to, not in lieu of any other action(s) proscribed by law including, but not limited to those actions addressed by and 3 Del. C. § 7904 and/or 11 Del. C. § 1325.