[Adopted 1-26-1981 as Ch. 54 of
the 1981 Code; amended in its entirety 11-8-2004 by Ord. No.
2004-10]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Dog Control Ordinance of the City of Batavia."
The purpose of this article shall be to preserve
the public peace and good order in the City, and to contribute to
the public welfare, safety and good order of its people by establishing
certain regulations and restrictions on the activities of dogs and
owners of dogs that are consistent with the rights and privileges
of other residents of the City. This article is enacted pursuant to
Agriculture and Markets Law § 124.
A Dog Control Officer shall be appointed for
the City of Batavia for the purposes and shall have all the powers
and duties contained in § 114 of the Agriculture and Markets
Law.
No person, being the owner or agent of the owner
of any dog, shall permit such dog to commit any nuisance within the
City of Batavia or cause damage to the person or property of others.
The following are declared public nuisances and are set forth herein
for explanatory purposes only, and are not to be considered as excluding
other types of nuisances:
A. Engaging in loud howling or habitual barking or so
conducting itself in such a manner so as to disturb the public peace.
B. The owner of a dog shall not permit such dog, even
though leashed, to do any of the following acts:
(1) Enter public buildings, restaurants, stores or cemeteries,
except Seeing Eye dogs properly trained to assist blind persons, when
such dogs are actually being used by blind persons for the purpose
of aiding them in going from place to place.
(2) Damage or deface property not belonging to the owner
of the dog.
(3) Deposit waste or commit a nuisance on the private
property of a person or party other than that of the owner of the
dog.
C. To own or keep a dog which acts in a manner as to
justify the belief that it is vicious. Any dog which shall have bitten
any person or has killed any other domesticated animals within the
City and while off the owner's property shall be presumed to be a
vicious dog.
If any dangerous or vicious dog causes injury
to a person or domestic animal or damage to property while out of
or within the enclosure of the owner of the dog, or while off the
property of the owner, whether or not the vicious dog was on a leash
and securely muzzled or whether the vicious dog escaped without the
fault of the owner, the owner shall be liable to the person aggrieved
by the injury for all damages sustained, to be recovered in a civil
action.
The owner shall notify the Dog Control Officer
immediately, but in no event more than 24 hours, if a vicious dog
is loose, unconfined, has attacked any other animal, has attacked
a human being or has died.
No person shall own or harbor any dog for the
purpose of dog fighting or shall train, torment, badger, bait or use
any dog for the purpose of causing or encouraging the dog to unprovoked
attacks upon human beings or domestic animals.
No person shall possess with intent to sell,
offer for sale, give away, breed, buy, attempt to buy or receive as
a gift within the City any dangerous or vicious dog.
The provisions of this article shall not supersede but rather shall be supplementary to the provisions of law contained in Article
7 (§ 106 et seq.) of the Agriculture and Markets Law and any other applicable ordinance, rule or regulation and successor laws, ordinances, rules and regulations.
The Dog Control Officer, in accordance with
Subdivision 4 of Agriculture and Markets Law § 114, may
issue an appearance ticket pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Law
for any violation of this article.
[Amended 4-8-1991; 12-13-2010 by L.L.
No. 1-2011]
Owners of dogs in the City of Batavia shall
pay:
A. Ten dollars
and fifty cents for each spayed or neutered dog, plus the local surcharge
mandated by New York State to be deposited into the New York State
Animal Population Control Fund.
B. Fifteen
dollars for each unspayed or unneutered dog, plus the local surcharge
mandated by New York State to be deposited into the New York State
Animal Population Control Fund.
C. Thirty-five
dollars for each purebred license, plus the local surcharge mandated
by New York State to be deposited into the New York State Animal Population
Control Fund.
D. Guide dogs
and other service dogs are exempt from license fees.
All sections and provisions of Article
7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law including terms and definitions are hereby incorporated by reference.