Chapter II · Animal Control and Regulation

Article 2. Cats And Dogs

Sections 2-201 to 2-210 · 10 sections

2-201 Registration and vaccination required; fee.

(a)Every owner of any dog or cat over 4 months of age shall annually register with the city clerk his or her name and address with the name, sex, and description of each dog or cat owned and kept within the city. It shall be unlawful for the owner of any newly acquired dog or cat or any dog or cat brought in the city to fail to register such animal within 30 days from acquisition or brining the dog or cat into the city. It shall be unlawful for the owner of any previously register dog or cat to fail to maintain current registration of such dog or cat.

(b)Upon registration, the owner shall present a current completed certificate of immunization against rabies. No registration shall follow without evidence of this document, and it shall be unlawful for the owner of nay dog or cat over 4 months of age to fail to maintain effective rabies immunization of such dog or cat.

(c)The owner or harbored of any dog or cat shall, at the time of registering such dog or cat, present to the city clerk a certificate from an accredited veterinarian showing that the male dog or cat has been neutered or a female dog or cat has been spayed, if the dog or cat has been neutered or spayed.

(d)The city clerk shall collect an annual registration fee of $3 for each dog or cat.

(e)The registration year shall be from January 1st through December 31st of each year. The fee shall be payable before March 1st of each year without penalty.

Every owner or harbor of dogs or cats who shall fail to register the same within 60 days after the first of the year or within 30 days of the dog or cat reaching 4 months of age or within 30 days of the acquisition of a dog or cat who is 4 months of age or older shall pay, in addition to the registration fee, $1 per week.

(Ord. 187; Ord. 245; Ord. 294; Ord. 327; Code 2018)

2-202 Dog or cat tags.

It shall be the duty of the city clerk or designated agent, upon a showing of current rabies immunization and receipt of the registration fee hereinbefore required, to keep in a book suitable for the registration of dogs or cats, the time of the registration, the name of the owner or keeper, the number of the registration and the amount paid therefore, and shall deliver to the owner or keeper of the dog or cat a certificate, in writing, stating that the person has registered the dog or cat and the number with the registration number and the registration year thereon, which shall be, the owner or keeper attached to the collar to be used on the dog or cat so registered.

When any tag has become lost during a registration period, the owner of the dog or cat may request a duplicate tag for the remainder of the registration period. When so requested, the city clerk shall, upon presentation of the registration certificate, issue a duplicate for such tag upon the payment of $1 fee. It shall be unlawful for any person to take off or remove the city registration tag from any dog or cat belonging to another, or remove the strap or collar on which the same is fastened. Any dog or cat failing to display a current tag shall be impounded.

(Ord. 187; Ord. 294; Code 2018)

2-203 Running at large; impoundment.

It shall be unlawful for the owner or harbor of any dog to permit such dog to run at large within the city at any time. It shall be lawful for any city police officer or others duly delegated by the city council to pursue and capture such dog so running at large, or to kill such dog if he or she cannot otherwise capture such dog so running at large. Provided, that no such dog shall be held to be running at large when such dog is upon a leash or lead, of the owner or other authorized person capable of retraining the animal. Animals tethered to a stationary object within range of public thoroughfares are deemed to be “At-large.” In addition to the above any dog running at large shall also be subject to the provisions of 2-108.

(Ord. 249; Ord. 294; Ord. 335; Code 2018)

2-204 Impoundment

(a)Any dog or cat impounded may not be released without a current rabies vaccination and a current tag if the dog or cat is required to have a tag.

(b)Impoundment hereunder shall not preclude any court from imposing and executing any fine which might otherwise be levied under this article for violation of any of the provisions thereof, not shall impoundment be a defense in any prosecution commenced hereunder.

(c)The redemption of any dog or cat impounded for a violation of any provision of this chapter shall be prima facie evidence of the violation of such provision by the person redeeming the dog.

(Ord.249; Ord. 294; Code 2018)

2-205 Disposition of unclaimed dogs.

If any dog or cat is not redeemed by its owner or harbor within the time allowed for redemption, the animal control officer, any authorized law enforcement office, any authorized veterinarian or any duly authorized pound personnel may destroy such dog or cat or sell the same for the costs of impoundment and keeping, plus any registration fee due for the current year.

(Ord. 294; Code 2018)

2-206 Abandoning animals unlawful.

It shall be unlawful for any person to bring within the city limits any dog or cat and abandon the same and allow them to run at large in the streets, alleys and public places in the city.

(Ord. 294; Code 2018)

2-207 Barking dogs prohibited.

No person shall own, keep or harbor any dog which by loud, frequent and habitual barking, howling, or yowling shall annoy or disturb any neighborhood or person in the city.

(Ord. 294; Code 2018)

2-208 Dog and cat kennels.

Any person who shall desire to keep dogs or cats for breeding, raising, or commercial purposes or who shall have more than a combined total of 4 dogs and/or cats, shall make an application to the city council for a kennel permit.

(a)Such application shall state the name of the person so desiring to keep such dogs and/or cats, the location of the premises where the kennels are to be maintained, a statement that a permit, if issued, may be revoked if the applicant shall at any time fail to keep the premises covered by the permit in a clean and sanitary manner free from filth and accumulations of garbage and other debris and free from offensive odors. Such application shall be signed by the applicant and shall bear the date of the application. The application must also bear the signatures of all property owners within 150 feet of the proposed location of the kennels, the date signed and whether they are in favor of or not in favor of a kennel permit being approved. Each application will cost $25 to cover administrative fees.

(b)Such dog and/or cat kennels shall be cleaned daily and excretion from such pens, if stored on the premises, shall be stored in non-porous containers with a fly-tight lid. No such dog and/or cat kennels shall be so located within 50 feet of any dwelling of the owner of such dog and/or cat kennel. If at any time the applicant fails to maintain the premises in a clean and sanitary manner, the permit may be revoked and the unsanitary conditions abated in a manner provided by law.

(c)If a permit is revoked, the permit holder must submit a new application in compliance with the condition as set forth by this article.

(d)Any dog and/or cat kennel permits approved after January 1, 2002 will expire on December 31 of the year which approved. Each calendar year the applicant must make new application for a kennel for the consideration of the city council.

(Ord. 294; Ord. 319; Code 2018)

2-209 Confinement of dogs in heat.

Any unsprayed female dog in the stage of estrus (heat) shall be confined during such period of time in a house, building or secure enclosure, and the area of enclosure shall be so constructed that no other dog or dogs may gain voluntary access to the confined animal except for purposes of planned breeding. Any animal that is in the state of estrus (heat) and that is not properly confined, or any such animal that is creating a neighborhood nuisances, shall be removed to a boarding kennel, to a veterinary hospital or to the animal shelter. All expenses incurred as a result of the confinement shall be paid by the owner. The owner of the animals revoked to the animal shelter shall be charged at the rate established from time to time by the animal shelter for routine confinement.

(Ord. 321; Code 2018)

2-210 Penalty.

Every person convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter for which another penalty is not provided shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense within 6 months of the first offense and $150 for the third or subsequent offense thereafter. In addition to, or as an alternative thereto, the court can confine the offender in the county jail for a maximum of 30 days. This article shall be construed to allow the municipal judge full diction as to the use of diversion and probation and any of the above fines.

(Ord. 187; Ord. 249; Ord. 294; Ord. 321; Code 2018)