[Added 9-17-2002]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
While on the property of its owner and not under the direct supervision and control of the owner or custodian, a wild carnivore shall be confined in a humane manner in a securely enclosed and locked structure of sufficient height and design to prevent the animal's escape or, if the wild carnivore is determined to be a dangerous dog pursuant to Virginia Code § 3.2-6540 (Warren County Code § 66-14.1), the structure shall prevent direct contact with any person or animal not authorized by the owner to be in direct contact with the wild carnivore; and to provide a minimum of 100 square feet of floor space for each adult animal. Tethering of a wild carnivore not under the direct supervision and control of the owner or custodian shall not be considered adequate confinement. Confinement of a wild carnivore in any structure not approved in writing by an Animal Control Officer shall not be considered adequate confinement.
[Amended 9-16-2008]
A person appointed as an Animal Control Officer or Deputy
Animal Control Officer as provided in Virginia Code § 3.2-6555,
or its successor statute.
[Amended 9-16-2008]
Any domestic or feral dog, domestic or feral cat, nonhuman
primate, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit not raised for human food or
fiber, exotic or native animal, reptile, exotic or native bird, or
any feral animal or any animal under the care, custody, or ownership
of a person or any animal which is bought, sold, traded, or bartered
by any person. Agricultural animals, game animals or any animals regulated
under federal law as research animals shall not be considered companion
animals for purposes of this chapter.
A veterinarian licensed at the time a certificate of vaccination
or inoculation was issued.
Includes, but is not limited to, a certificate signed by
a currently licensed veterinarian that the animal has been inoculated
or vaccinated against rabies, and the certificate does not have an
expiration date which is prior to the date on which the application
for a wild carnivore permit is made.
Any animal which is or can be demonstrated to be a hybrid
of the domestic dog and any other species of the Canidae family; that
at any time has been permitted, registered, licensed, or advertised
as such; or that at any time has been described, represented or reported
as such by its owner to a licensed veterinarian, law enforcement officer,
Animal Control Officer, humane investigator, official of the Department
of Health, or State Veterinarian's representative.
[Amended 7-15-2014]
Any person who is a full-time or part-time employee of a
police department or sheriff's office which is part of or administered
by the Commonwealth of Virginia or any political subdivision thereof
and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and
the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the commonwealth.
Part-time employees are compensated officers who are not full-time
employees as defined by the employing police department or sheriff's
office.
Includes all domestic or domesticated bovine animals; equine
animals; ovine animals; porcine animals; cervidae animals; capradae
animals; animals of the genus Lama; large, flightless birds; ratites;
fish or shellfish in aquaculture facilities, as defined in Virginia
Code § 3.2-2600 or its successor statute; enclosed domesticated
rabbits or hares raised for human food or fiber; or any other individual
animal specifically raised for food or fiber, except companion animals.
[Amended 9-16-2008; 7-15-2014]
The ownership and humane care of a wild carnivore in such
a manner as to comply with all laws and ordinances regarding wild
carnivores and prevent endangerment by the animal to public health
and safety.
The Treasurer of Warren County, Virginia, or the Treasurer's
designee.
Any carnivorous or omnivorous nonprimate mammal, other than
a domesticated dog or domesticated housecat, of greater than 10 pounds'
weight and shall include, but not be limited to, bears, cats, hybrid
canines, wolves, coyotes, foxes, raccoons and members of the weasel
family which is owned, harbored, kept, possessed, or confined by a
person.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful at any time for any person owning,
harboring, keeping, possessing, or confining a wild carnivore to allow
or cause such wild carnivore to:
B.Â
It shall be unlawful at any time for any person owning,
harboring, keeping, possessing, or confining a wild carnivore to allow
or cause any wild carnivore to be within less than 50 yards from the
property line of the wild carnivore's owner's real property or the
edge of any public right-of-way.
It shall be unlawful for any person to possess,
own, harbor, keep or confine more than two wild carnivores more than
six months of age.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for any person to own, possess,
keep or harbor, on or after midnight, September 30, 2002, a wild carnivore
four months of age or older unless such person possesses a permit
and plastic or metal tag, issued by the County of Warren, for such
wild carnivore. Wild carnivore permits shall be paid for by the calendar
year, namely, from January 1 to December 31, inclusive, and the permit
tax shall be payable at the office of the County Treasurer. The amount
of the tax shall be as fixed by the Board of Supervisors for Warren
County from year to year.
B.Â
No permittee shall be issued permits during any one
calendar year for more than two wild carnivores of more than six months
of age.
C.Â
No permit for a wild carnivore shall be issued unless
the applicant for a permit furnishes to the Treasurer, at the time
of application for the permit, a certificate from an Animal Control
Officer issued within 30 days prior to such time of application that
the applicant has a place of adequate confinement for such wild carnivore.
D.Â
No permit for a wild carnivore shall be issued to
any person unless the applicant furnishes to the Treasurer, at the
time application for the permit is made, the sex, color, height, vaccination
records, length, and identifying marks of the wild carnivore.
E.Â
No permit for any wild carnivore shall be issued unless
there is presented to the Treasurer, at the time application for the
permit is made, evidence satisfactory to the Treasurer showing that
such wild carnivore has been inoculated or vaccinated against rabies
by a currently licensed veterinarian.
F.Â
No permit for any wild carnivore shall be issued to
any person who has demonstrated lack of responsible ownership of a
wild carnivore, or who has had ownership or custody of a canine or
canine crossbreed that has been deemed a dangerous dog or a vicious
dog.
A.Â
An applicant for a wild carnivore permit shall be
deemed, as a condition of receiving a permit, to give the County of
Warren the applicant's permission to a representative(s) of the County
of Warren to notify any or all persons residing within a radius of
approximately 1/2 mile of the place of adequate confinement of the
wild carnivore that a permit has been issued, information relative
to the wild carnivore, and the name and address of the applicant.
All costs and expenses incurred by the County in complying with this
section, including costs of postage and the prorated pay of the County
employees attributable to compliance with this section, shall be paid
by the applicant prior to issuance of a wild carnivore permit.
B.Â
Upon issuance of a permit for a wild carnivore, the Treasurer shall furnish the information listed in Subsection A to the Zoning Administrator, or his designee, of the County of Warren, who shall forthwith mail, by first-class mail, such information to such residents as may reasonably be determined by such Zoning Administrator or his designee to be residing within a radius of 1/2 mile of the place of adequate confinement of such wild carnivore.
It shall be unlawful for any person to own,
harbor, possess, keep or confine any wild carnivore on any property
unless such person shall cause to be placed on such property a sign
or signs, of not less than one foot by one foot in size, in a place
or places where it or they may be readily seen from any place of entry
onto such property, which sign shall have on it the words "WARNING
- BEWARE OF WILD CARNIVORE ON PROPERTY" and which words shall be composed
of letters, each not less than one inch in height and width and conspicuously
colored in black or red.
It shall be unlawful for any person owning,
harboring, possessing, keeping or confining any wild carnivore to
allow such wild carnivore off the property of the owner, harborer,
possessor, keeper or confiner of such wild carnivore unless the wild
carnivore is kept on a leash or other restraint of sufficient size
and strength to cause such wild carnivore to be under the handler's
immediate control, and with the wild carnivore's jaws muzzled and
claws covered in such a manner as not to cause injury to the animal
or interfere with the animal's vision or respiration, but so as to
prevent it from biting or clawing a person or other animal.
A.Â
It shall be the duty of any Animal Control Officer
or other officer who may find a wild carnivore in the act of killing
or injuring livestock or poultry to kill such wild carnivore forthwith,
whether such wild carnivore bears a tag or not.
B.Â
Any person finding a wild carnivore committing any of the depredations mentioned in Subsection A of this section shall have the right to kill such wild carnivore on sight, as shall any owner of livestock or his agent finding a wild carnivore chasing livestock on land lawfully utilized by the livestock when the circumstances show that such chasing is harmful to the livestock.
C.Â
Any court shall have the power to order an Animal
Control Officer or other law enforcement officer to kill any wild
carnivore known to be a confirmed livestock or poultry killer, and
any wild carnivore killing poultry for the third time shall be considered
a confirmed poultry killer. The court, through its contempt powers,
may compel the owner, custodian, or harborer of the wild carnivore
to produce the wild carnivore.
D.Â
Any Animal Control Officer who has reason to believe
that any wild carnivore is killing livestock or poultry shall be empowered
to seize such wild carnivore solely for the purpose of examining such
wild carnivore in order to determine whether it has committed any
of the depredations mentioned in this section.
E.Â
Any Animal Control Officer or other person who has
reason to believe that any wild carnivore is killing livestock, or
committing any of the depredations mentioned in this section, shall
apply to a Magistrate for the County, city or town wherein such wild
carnivore may be, who shall issue a warrant requiring the owner or
custodian, if known, to appear before a general district court at
a time and place mentioned therein, at which time evidence shall be
heard. If it appears that the wild carnivore is a livestock killer,
or has committed any of the depredations mentioned in this section,
the district court shall order that the wild carnivore be killed immediately
by the Animal Control Officer or other officer designated by the court,
or removed to another state which does not border the commonwealth
and prohibited from returning to the commonwealth. Any wild carnivore
ordered removed from the Commonwealth which is later found in the
Commonwealth shall be ordered by a court to be killed immediately.
A.Â
Any person who has any livestock or poultry killed
or injured by any wild carnivore not his own shall be entitled to
receive as compensation the fair market value of such livestock or
poultry, not to exceed $400 per animal or $10 per fowl, provided that:
(i) the claimant has furnished evidence within 60 days of discovery
of the quantity and value of the dead or injured livestock and the
reasons the claimant believes that death or injury was caused by a
wild carnivore; (ii) the Animal Control Officer or other law enforcement
officer shall have been notified of the incident within 72 hours of
its discovery; and (iii) the claimant first has exhausted his legal
remedies against the owner, if known, of the wild carnivore doing
the damage for which compensation under this section is sought. "Exhaustion"
shall mean a judgment against the owner of the wild carnivore upon
which an execution has been returned unsatisfied. Exhaustion of legal
remedies shall not be required if the Animal Control Officer has conducted
an investigation and his investigation supports the claim.
B.Â
Upon payment under this section the Board of Supervisors
shall be subrogated to the extent of compensation paid to the right
of action to the owner of the livestock or poultry against the owner
of the wild carnivore and may enforce the same in an appropriate action
at law.
It shall be deemed a violation of this article
for any person to own, keep, harbor, possess, or have custody of any
wild carnivore which has bitten, attacked, or inflicted injury on
a person or companion animal.
A.Â
It shall be the duty of the Animal Control Officer
who finds any wild carnivore running at large, not subject to adequate
confinement, or whose owner, custodian or harborer has failed or refused
to obtain or renew any required permit, or who violates any provision
of this article or other law pertaining to the responsible ownership
of the wild carnivore, to seize and capture and cause such wild carnivore
to be adequately confined until further order of the court as hereinafter
set forth.
(1)Â
Upon capture of such wild carnivore, the Animal Control Officer shall apply to a Magistrate of Warren County for the issuance of a summons requiring the owner, custodian, or harborer, if known, of the wild carnivore to appear before a general district court at a specified time. The summons shall advise the owner, custodian, or harborer of the nature of the proceedings in the matters at issue. The Animal Control Officer or, in the Animal Control Officer's discretion, the owner or custodian shall securely confine the animal, as set forth in Subsection A above, until such time as evidence may be heard or verdict rendered. The court, through its contempt powers, may compel the owner, custodian, or harborer of the wild carnivore to produce the wild carnivore.
(2)Â
If, after hearing the evidence, the court finds that any of the provisions of Subsection A of this section, or any other provision of this article, was violated, with respect to the wild carnivore, the court shall order such wild carnivore euthanized in accordance with the provisions of Virginia Code § 3.2-6562 or successor statutes; or, alternatively, in the court's discretion, the court may divest any ownership or custodial rights in the owner, custodian, keeper or harborer of such wild carnivore and cause ownership or custody of such wild carnivore to be transferred to a person or organization, such as a zoo or conservation or wildlife agency or organization, duly permitted by law to accept custody of such wild carnivore, and which is willing to accept custody of such wild carnivore; or, alternatively, if said wild carnivore is a hybrid canine, wolf, or coyote, the court may cause disposal of such animal as provided in § 66-43E.
[Amended 9-16-2008]
B.Â
In addition to the above provisions relative to the
disposal of a wild carnivore, violation of any ordinance enacted pursuant
to this article shall be a Class 3 misdemeanor for the first violation
and a Class 1 violation for a second or subsequent violation.
