City of Hagerstown, MD Chapter 87 Dogs and Other Animals

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the City of Hagerstown 9-25-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-33[1]. Amendments noted where applicable.]

[1] Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 87, Dogs and Other Animals, adopted as Ch. 6 of the 1967 Code, as amended.

§ 87-1 Adoption of county ordinance.

A. The Board of County Commissioners, as the duly constituted legislative body for Washington County, Maryland, has enacted a certain ordinance to provide for the control of animals in Washington County, Maryland. Said Animal Control Ordinance was passed in accordance with the provision of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended. Said ordinance was passed on January 30, 2001, and is incorporated herein and made a part hereof, as from time to time amended, and as specifically amended in Subsection B.

B. Said Animal Control Ordinance shall be amended as follows:

(1) Section 28, Animal Waste, Subsection (a), shall read as follows: "It shall be unlawful for any owner or custodian to allow his or her animal or any animal under his or her care to urinate or defecate on the property of another without the property owner's consent, unless the owner or custodian of the animal immediately thereafter removes and disposes of any waste in a sanitary manner."

(2) Section 32, Public Nuisance Animals, Subsection (a)(2), shall read as follows: "When an animal damages, soils, defiles or defecates on any private property, other than that of the owner, or when an animal does so on common grounds or jointly owned property, and the owner or custodian has not immediately remedied the problem."

(3) Section 35, Vicious and Dangerous Animals, shall be amended to add new subsections thereto, to be known as Subsections (f) and (g), to read as follows:

[Added 6-19-2007 by Ord. No. O-07-12]

(f)	It shall be unlawful for any person to own, possess, keep or harbor a vicious and dangerous animal, including, but not limited to dogs, within the corporate limits of the City of Hagerstown. For purposes of this subsection an animal shall be considered vicious and dangerous if:
	(1)	After the effective date of this subsection, the animal is declared so by the Agency, or by any other agency or governmental unit having jurisdiction over said animal at the time of the declaration, and such declaration remains unchanged after all rights of appeal are exhausted; and
	(2)	The behavior upon which the declaration is founded consists of an attack or attacks upon a human or a properly confined, restrained or controlled domestic pet.
(g)	Any owner, custodian or keeper of a vicious and dangerous animal who shall violate the aforegoing Subsection (f) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to incarceration not to exceed 90 days and a fine not to succeed $500. Each day of the violation shall be considered a separate and distinct offense.

C. The City of Hagerstown hereby adopts the Animal Control Ordinance, as amended herein, which was adopted by the County Commissioners for Washington County, Maryland as hereinabove set forth. The City, through its duly constituted legislative body, does hereby request the county to enforce the provisions of the same within the corporate limits of the City of Hagerstown insofar as they are applicable to the City, except for those provisions hereinafter set forth which are not contained in the county ordinance.

§ 87-2 Keeping of farm animals.

It shall be unlawful to keep and maintain within the corporate limits of the City any animals generally considered to be farm animals, except in areas now zoned agricultural and in established stockyards and livestock auctions where such animals are kept for a brief period of time.

§ 87-3 Manure removal.

Every person owning or occupying any lot or premises within the corporate or sanitary limits of the City and keeping thereon any farm animals permitted in § 87-2 shall remove all manure, excrement or other filth and shall at all times keep the same clean and well-limed. The provisions of this section apply to both owners and occupiers of lots and premises within the City.

§ 87-4 Animal carcasses.

It shall be unlawful for any owner of any dead animal to permit the carcass to lie within the City limits longer than a reasonable time for removing or burying the same.

§ 87-5 Violations and penalties.

Any owner, custodian, or keeper of any animal which violates the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a municipal infraction and shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $1,000.

§ 87-6 Dogs in parks.

[Added 8-26-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-29]

A. Prohibition. Except as otherwise provided herein, dogs are prohibited in all City-owned parks and recreational facilities.

B. Exception. The aforegoing notwithstanding, dogs shall be permitted in City-owned parks and recreational facilities in certain designated areas of some parks or facilities, as from time to time determined, established and designated by the City, subject to compliance with the regulations contained in this section.

C. Regulations. At any time an individual has a dog in a City-owned park or recreational facility, the following restrictions shall apply:

(1) Dogs must remain in the designated dog areas at all times.

(2) Dogs must be kept on an unbreakable leash not exceeding six feet in length at all times.

(3) Dogs must be maintained under the control of an individual physically capable of maintaining control of the dog and at least 12 years of age. Children under 12 must be supervised by an adult capable of maintaining control of the dog.

(4) No individual shall be permitted to walk more than two dogs at any one time.

(5) The custodian of the dog shall not allow the dog to defecate on City-owned park or recreational facility property without immediately thereafter removing and disposing of the waste material in a sanitary manner.

D. Restrictions. The exception contained in Subsection B above notwithstanding, no dog shall be permitted on any City-owned park or recreational facility property, even in designated areas, if said dog has previously been determined to be dangerous, is currently acting in a dangerous or aggressive manner or is currently in heat.

E. Penalty. Any dog owner, custodian or other individual who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a municipal infraction and shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $50 for each violation. If an individual is convicted of violating any provision of this section, and is subsequently convicted of another violation hereof, said individual shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $100 for each violation.