[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Mount Pleasant as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-8-1975]
It appearing that dogs in the Town of Mount
Pleasant have, in some instances, been allowed to cause annoyance
and damage to the person and properties of others, and it appearing
further that dogs properly cared for serve a useful purpose, the Town
Board of the Town of Mount Pleasant enacts the following Article to
preserve the relationship between a dog and his master and, at the
same time, to protect the health, safety and property of others from
annoyance and damage caused by dogs.
The title of this article shall be the "Dog
Control Ordinance of the Town of Mount Pleasant," and this article
shall only affect the areas of the Town outside the jurisdictional
limits of any village within the Town of Mount Pleasant.
As used in this article, the following words
shall have the following respective meanings:
The person authorized by the Town Board from time to time,
by resolution, to enforce the provisions of this article. The Dog
Warden shall be authorized to draw an information and obtain supporting
affidavits for submission to the Town Justice Court and to perform
all functions of the office permitted by statute, law or ordinance.
Any person who is a licensed owner of a dog or any person
who keeps, feeds or harbors a dog for over one week. The owner need
not be a resident of the Town of Mount Pleasant, but, for a violation
to occur, the dog must be in the Town limits of the Town of Mount
Pleasant.
Any natural individual, two or more individuals living in
the same household, firm, trust, partnership, association or corporation,
in his or its own capacity or as an administrator, executor, trustee,
receiver or other representative capacity appointed by a court.
The owner of every dog which is at any time
kept, brought or comes into the Town of Mount Pleasant will be held
responsible for the strict observance by such animal and with respect
to such animal of all the rules and regulations contained in this
chapter at all times when such dog is within the Town.
The owner of every female dog shall effectively
confine such dog in or on the premises of the owner or person harboring
the dog during every period in which said female dog is in heat.
A.
No dog shall be off the premises of its owner or person
harboring said dog unless it is on a leash of not more than six feet
in length and under control of said person.
[Amended 9-27-2022 by L.L. No. 4-2022]
B.
No dog shall be permitted to be in any park or playground
even if leashed, except when specific permission is given by the Parks
Superintendent in connection with program or activity sponsored or
permitted by the Town Recreation Department.
[Amended 9-27-2022 by L.L. No. 4-2022]
All dogs shall be confined upon or in the premises of the owner or person harboring said dog between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. prevailing time, unless the dog is under the effective control of a responsible person as set forth in § 83-6 of this chapter.
No dogs confined under the provisions of §§ 83-5 and 83-7 of this chapter shall be allowed to bark for an unreasonable length of time, and it shall be unlawful for a person to allow a dog to:
A.
Engage in habitual loud howling or barking or to conduct
itself in such manner so as to habitually annoy any person other than
the owner or person harboring such dog.
B.
Cause damage or destruction to property or commit
a nuisance upon the premises of a person other than the owner or person
harboring such a dog.
C.
Chase or otherwise harass any person in such a manner
as reasonably to cause intimidation or to put such person in reasonable
apprehension of bodily harm or injury.
D.
Habitually chase or bark at motor vehicles.
Any dog at large which does not display any
current dog license or other means of identification or which fails
to exhibit any evidence of having had administered to it a rabies
vaccination shall be considered an abandoned dog and may be summarily
impounded by the Dog Warden.
A.
The Town Board of the Town of Mount Pleasant shall
designate a suitable means of seizure and place of detention for dogs
which are in violation of the provisions of this chapter.
B.
Every dog seized shall be properly fed and cared for
at the expense of the Town of Mount Pleasant until such dog is either
redeemed or disposed of.
C.
Every dog seized shall be treated in a humane manner.
D.
If the dog seized bears a license tag, the Dog Warden shall ascertain the owner of the dog and shall give immediate telephone notice, if possible, followed by a written notice to such owner by personally serving such owner, or an adult member of his family, addressed to his last known address or the address set forth in the application for the dog's license, with the written notice stating that the dog has been seized and will be destroyed unless redeemed as provided in § 83-11 of this chapter.
A.
The owner of a dog seized and impounded as provided in §§ 83-9 and 83-10 of this chapter may redeem said dog. within seven days, by paying the Dog Warden or the Town Clerk of the Town of Mount Pleasant a sum as set forth in Chapter A224, Fees, plus paying the reasonable cost of boarding such animal, to be paid at the place of impounding.
[Amended 3-13-2001 by L.L. No. 1-2001]
B.
If an impounded dog is not redeemed within seven days,
the owner thereof shall forfeit all title to the dog, and the dog
shall be disposed of in a humane manner in accordance with the laws
of the State of New York.
The following fines and other penalties are
hereby imposed, in addition to the punishments imposed by any general
statutes, on every person convicted of violating any of the requirements
or other provisions of this chapter:
A.
The owner, harborer or possessor of any dog destroyed
under the provisions of this chapter shall not be entitled to any
compensation, and no action shall be maintainable thereafter to recover
the value of the dog.
B.
Immediately after a second substantiated instance
of personal injury or injury to another animal, the offending dog
shall, by order of the Town Justice, be permanently confined to the
premises of its owner unless leashed. If the owner of said dog fails
to comply with the confinement order, the Town Justice shall then
order said dog destroyed in a humane manner in accordance with the
laws of the State of New York.
C.
The provisions of this section are in addition to
and not in limitation of the provisions of the Agriculture and Markets
Law concerning dangerous dogs.
This chapter shall be administered by a Dog
Warden appointed pursuant to the Agriculture and Markets Law or, in
lieu thereof, by any incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty
to animals or similar incorporated dog protective association with
whom the Town of Mount Pleasant shall have contracted pursuant to
the Agriculture and Markets Law. Any such Dog Warden appointed by
the Town of Mount Pleasant shall have the powers and perquisites of
a peace officer of the Town of Mount Pleasant.
Except as provided in the Zoning Ordinance,[1] no person shall keep more than four dogs of licensing
age, as defined by the New York Agriculture and Markets Law, within
the unincorporated limits of the Town of Mount Pleasant.
Any person who observes a dog causing damage
or destruction to property of a person other than its owner or committing
a nuisance upon the premises of a person other than its owner or who
is subjected to habitually loud or annoying barking or who shall be
subject to or observe a dog otherwise harassing any person or persons
or otherwise acting in violation of this article may file a signed
complaint, under oath, with a Town Justice of the Town of Mount Pleasant
specifying the objectionable conduct of the dog, the date thereof,
the damage caused, a description of the dog and the name and residence,
if known, of the owner or other person harboring said dog.
The consideration to be paid to a Dog Warden
or humane society by the Town of Mount Pleasant shall be a general
Town charge.
[Added 10-10-1978; amended 1-6-1981; 3-13-2001 by L.L. No. 1-2001; 12-14-2010 by L.L. No.
3-2010]
A.
All dogs in the Town of Mount Pleasant must be licensed
with the Town Clerk by the age of four months and required to present
a current certificate of rabies at the time of licensing or the renewal
of an existing license. Applications shall be on forms prescribed
by the Town Clerk.
B.
All dog licenses will be for a period of one year
and will expire at the end of the month one year from the date of
issue.
C.
Fees for
licensing of dogs:
(1)
The fee for a spayed or neutered dog shall be as set forth in Chapter A224, Fees, of this Code. It shall include a state assessment pursuant to § 110, Subdivision 3, of the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law, and additional funds for enumeration as provided for by § 110, Subdivision 4(a), of the Agriculture and Markets Law.
(2)
The fee for an unspayed or unneutered dog shall be as set forth in Chapter A224, Fees, of this Code. It shall include a state assessment pursuant to § 110, Subdivision 3 of the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law, and additional funds for enumeration as provided for by § 110, Subdivision 4(a) of the Agriculture and Markets Law.
(3)
Enumeration
fee. When the Town Board determines the need for a dog enumeration,
a fee set by the Town Board by resolution shall be assessed to all
dogs found unlicensed or renewed at the time enumeration is conducted.
(4)
Purebred
licenses. The Town of Mount Pleasant will not be issuing purebred
or kennel licenses. All dogs will be licensed individually as per
the fee system stated above.
(5)
Service
dogs. The Town of Mount Pleasant requires licenses for all dogs living
or harbored within the Town; however, the Town fee for licensure of
all types of service dogs listed in § 110, Subdivision 2,
of the Agriculture and Markets Law, including, but not limited to,
guide dogs, service dogs, hearing dogs, and detection dogs, is waived.
(6)
Shelters.
The Town of Mount Pleasant does not allow the licensing of dogs by
a shelter. The shelter must notify the adoptive owners of their responsibility
to license any dog which will be living within Mount Pleasant with
the Mount Pleasant Town Clerk within 30 days of adoption. The shelter
shall provide the Town Clerk with a list of adoptive owners monthly.
[Adopted 7-13-1993]
The purpose of this article shall be to promote
the health, safety, cleanliness and general welfare of the Town of
Mount Pleasant, including the protection, cleanliness and preservation
of the property of the Town of Mount Pleasant and its inhabitants,
by adopting and enforcing certain regulations and restrictions on
the activities of dogs.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A carnivorous domesticated mammal, known as "Canis familiaris,"
and shall include male as well as female.
Except as provided and regulated by § 83-22 hereof, no person owning, harboring, keeping, walking or having the custody or control of a dog shall cause, permit, suffer or allow such dog to soil, defile, defecate on or commit any nuisance on any common thoroughfare, sidewalk, passageway, bypath, play area, park or any other public property. These restrictions shall likewise apply to any private property unless such person shall have the express written permission of the owner of said property.
The prohibition set forth in § 83-21 above shall not apply to those portions of a street lying between curblines, which such portions may be utilized to curb a dog, subject however to the following conditions:
A.
Any person who so curbs a dog shall immediately remove
all feces deposited by such dog in the following manner: feces shall
be picked up with scoop, shovel, broom, tong or other similar implement
and be deposited immediately thereafter in a container, plastic or
otherwise, and then subsequently deposited in a container used for
the disposal of refuse.
B.
In no event shall any feces be deposited in sewers
and drains, whether storm or sanitary.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 83-23, Penalties for offenses,
was repealed 9-27-2022 by L.L. No. 4-2022.
The Dog Control Officer and the Police Department
of the Town of Mount Pleasant shall be the enforcement officers of
the provisions of this article.
Should a paragraph or section, or portion thereof,
of the article be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to
be invalid or unlawful, the same shall not affect the remainder of
this article as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so
declared to be invalid.
