Every person residing in the City who owns a
dog which is more than five months of age on January 1 of any year
shall annually, at the time and in the manner prescribed by law for
the payment of personal property taxes, obtain a license therefor.
No license shall be issued for any dog over the age of five months
unless the applicant for such license presents proof that the dog
has been inoculated for rabies within a year prior to application
or has been inoculated with a rabies vaccine effective for a longer
period.
[Amended 12-2-2003 by Ord. No. 15-03; 6-18-2019 by Ord. No. 2-19]
The license fee for all dogs shall be as set by the Common Council or 1/2 of that amount if the dog became five months of age after July 1 of the license year. The license fee for any dog licensed after April 1, or after 30 days of acquiring ownership of a licensable dog, or if the owner fails to obtain a license before the dog reaches licensable age, shall be increased by $10. Service animals (as that term is defined in Article
V) are exempt from any fee otherwise imposed herein.
Upon payment to the City Clerk/Treasurer of the above fee, and upon presentation of proof of rabies inoculation, the Clerk/Treasurer shall issue a license to keep such dog for one year. The owner of every dog shall display the license required by §
113-1 on the collar or in some other manner on such animal.
Chapter 174, Wis. Stats., pertaining to licensing
of dogs, is made a part of this article by reference.
No unlicensed dog shall run at large, and any
person may seize or impound any unlicensed dog found at large, The
fact that a dog is without a proper license tag attached to its collar
shall be presumptive evidence that it is unlicensed. Any police officer
may enter upon the premises of the owner or keeper of any unlicensed
dog to seize it, and if after request therefor the owner, keeper,
or an immediate member of the owner's or keeper's family of suitable
age and discretion shall refuse to deliver the unlicensed dog to the
officer and the officer cannot with reasonable effort catch the unlicensed
dog, he may kill it.
During the time this City or any part thereof
shall be quarantined for rabies, all dogs within the district so quarantined
shall be kept securely confined or tied or leashed or muzzled. Any
dog not so kept is declared to be a public nuisance and shall be impounded
by any police officer or other person. Upon the impounding of such
dog, notice thereof shall be given to the owner, and if the owner
of the dog does not take possession of the dog, then such dog may
be killed.
Every owner or keeper of a dog and every other
person who knows that a dog has bitten any person shall immediately
in writing report such fact to a police officer or the Health Officer,
and the owner or keeper shall immediately confine the dog for at least
14 days thereafter and shall not release the dog except with the written
approval of the Health Officer. Such dog shall be surrendered to the
police or to the Health Officer upon demand.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this article shall be subject to a penalty as provided in Chapter
1, Article
I of this Code.