Ordinance #99 Dogs

CITY OF GEORGETOWN, STATE OF IDAHO

ORDINANCE NO. 2020-99

AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE CONTROL OF DOGS WITHIN THE INCORPORATED CITY LIMIT OF THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN; REPEALING ORDINANCE 97; AND ESTABLISHING FURTHER REGULATIONS OF CONTROL AND CARE OF DOGS KEPT IN THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO RULES FOR HUMANE TREATMENT AS WELL AS SETTING FURTHER RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR ENFORCEMENT.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN, STATE OF IDAHO AS FOLLOWS:

Sections:

  1. Definitions
  2. License required
  3. License – fee
  4. License –fee—Due when
  5. Kennels
  6. Rabies Vaccination required
  7. Penalties for not obtaining license
  8. Confinement of unspayed female dogs
  9. At-Large Dogs
  10. Disturbing the Peace
  11. Proper Care of Dogs
  12. Sanitation Requirements
  13. Cruelty to Dogs prohibited
  14. Placing Food for Animals
  15. RESERVED
  16. Confinement of a Biting Dog
  17. Dangerous Dogs
  18. Fighting Training and Attack Commands prohibited
  19. Impoundment
  20. Authority to enforce
  21. Violation – Penalty

SECTION 1 Definitions

Abuse:
Any intentional, willful or negligent conduct resulting in bruising, bleeding, malnutrition, dehydration, burns, fractures or breaks any bones, subdural hematoma, soft tissue swelling or death.
Adult:
Any person eighteen (18) years of age or older.
Allow:
To forbear or neglect to restrain or prevent, regardless of intent or participation.
Altered:
An animal which is sterilized by removal of sexual organ, (testicles or ovaries). May also be referred to as neutered or spayed.
Animal:
A mammal, bird, reptile, fish or amphibian.
Animal Control Officer:
Any person(s) employed by the city or designated to administer and enforce the licensing, inspection and enforcement requirements contained in this chapter.
Animal nuisance:
Any nuisance arising out of keeping, maintaining or owning of or failure to exercise sufficient control of a dog.
At Heels:
Means that a dog is next to a person (no more than a foot away in any direction) and obedient to that person’s command.
At Large:
A dog that is off the premises of the owner, and not on a leash ten feet (10′) or less in length, or not confined in a motor vehicle.
Commercial Animal Establishment:
Any place of business for the care of dogs, including but not limited to, the boarding, grooming, breeding, training or selling of dogs.
Cruelty:
Any act or omission whereby unjustifiable physical pain, suffering or death of a dog is caused or permitted including but not limited to failure to provide proper drink, air, space, shelter or protection from the elements, a sanitary and safe living environment, veterinary care or nutritious food in sufficient quantity. In the case of activities where physical pain is necessarily caused, such as medical and scientific research, food processing, customary and veterinary practices, pest elimination and dog training and hunting, “cruelty” shall mean a failure to employ the most humane method reasonably available.
Custodian
Any person having custodial care of a dog by his or her choice, or at the request of, or with the consent of, the owner of the animal, including but not limited to the parent(s) or guardian(s) of a minor child.
Dangerous Dog:
  1. Any dog which, when unprovoked by teasing, taunting, or a threatening manner by any person, approaches said person in an apparent attitude of attack upon the streets, sidewalks, public grounds or places, or private property not solely owned or possessed by the owner or custodian of the dog.
  2. Any dog with a known propensity, tendency, or disposition to attack unprovoked, to cause injury or to otherwise endanger the safety of human beings or domestic animals or livestock; or
  3. Any dog which bits, inflicts injury, assaults, or otherwise attacks a human being or domestic animal or livestock without justifiable provocation; or
  4. Any dog owned or harbored primarily or in part for the purpose of fighting or dog trained for fighting; or
  5. Any dog which has been trained as an attack dog, except dogs used by law enforcement agencies.

Exceptions: A dog will not be considered dangerous if it engages in any of the above listed actions toward a person or animal that is either: a) committing a trespass or other tort upon the premises of the dog’s owner or custodian, or b) committing a crime against the dog’s owner or custodian. A dog will not be considered dangerous if any of the above actions occur when the animal is being teased, tormented, or abused or if the actions were in reaction to either a crime committed by the person or an attempt by the person to commit a crime.

Designated Provider:
Any premises designated by the city for the purpose of impounding and caring for dogs held under the authority of this chapter.
Disposition:
Adoption, quarantine, voluntary or involuntary custodianship or placement or euthanasia humanely administered to a dog. “Disposition” included placement for sale of a dog to the general public or removal of an animal from any pet shop to another location.
Humane Trap:
A trap that is either designed to capture an animal alive and unharmed to be relocated or a trap designed to kill that does so quickly and without undue suffering to the animal such as mice and garden pests described herein.
Impoundment:
The taking into custody of a dog by any person, police officer, animal control officer, or other authorized representative thereof.
Kennel:
Any premises or portions thereof where more than five (5) dogs, over the age of three (3) months are kept or harbored, or where dogs are received for boarding and care, or where dogs are kept for breeding purposes.
Livestock:
Cows, sheep, horses, goats, pigs, hogs, llamas, donkeys, burros, and mules or any other similar animals whose mature size is approximately that of those set out herein.
Misuse:
The willful or intentional causing of a dog to perform non-customary tasks, excepting those tasks and actions required of dogs used by law enforcement agencies, which could be dangerous or harmful to the dog or any person.
Muzzle:
A device constructed of strong, soft material or of metal, designed to fasten over the mouth of a dog to prevent the dog from biting a person or other animal.
Owner:
Any person having temporary or permanent custody of, sheltering or having charge of, harboring, exercising control over or having property rights to, any dog for five (5) or more consecutive days, or who’s child or other person over whom guardianship is exercised, who resides with said person, so harbors or keeps a dog.
Public Nuisance Animal:
Any dog that unreasonably annoys humans, endangers the life or health of a person or another animal, or substantially interferes with the rights of a person, other than its owner/custodian, or enjoyment of life or property.

SECTION 2 License Required

It is unlawful for the owner, keeper or harborer of any dog within the city limits of Georgetown to keep, harbor or own any dog without first
obtaining a license for said dog as provided in Section 2, except licensing shall
not apply to dogs under the age of three (3) months. Rabies vaccination is
recommended at three (3) months of age and required for licensure. The City issued license tag must be displayed on the dog, usually
on the collar, when not confined on the property of the owner.

SECTION 3 License—Fee—Non-transferable

Fees may be set and/or modified from time to time by resolution of City Council. The license fee for the license mentioned in Section 1 shall be as follows: $5.00 for any altered dog, and $10.00 for any un-altered dog. License purchased for a particular dog will not be transferable to another dog. Each dog will require a new license meeting the requirements of this ordinance.

SECTION 4 License—Fee—When Due

Said license fee shall be due and payable on or before the last day of March of each year and shall be obtained by application to the city clerk. The dog license must be renewed every year.

SECTION 5 Kennels

  1. Any owners, keepers or harborers of dogs keeping more than five (5) dogs for a period exceeding eight (8) weeks are required to purchase a kennel license.
  2. Any kennel established shall be distanced at least thirty feet (30') from any residence not owned by the kennel owner so as not to be a disturbance of nuisance to neighbors.
  3. All dogs in kennels must meet the license requirements for this ordinance
  4. A kennel license and fee of $25 plus $10 for each dog over the 5 dog limit will be required and due and payable on or before the last day of March. Yearly license renewal is required to establish and maintain a kennel under this provision and shall be obtained by application to the city clerk.
  5. Persons involved in the breeding of dogs shall be required to obtain a kennel license.

SECTION 6 Rabies Vaccination Required

Each dog licensed within the city of Georgetown must have a current vaccination certificate for rabies by a licensed veterinarian. A license will not be issued without this certificate. Vaccinations must begin when the dog has reached the age of three (3) months. Any unlicensed dog shall be confined by the owner and given a vaccination by a licensed veterinarian within 4 working days. Every owner/custodian must, upon request of a law enforcement officer, produce proof of vaccination.

SECTION 7 Penalties for not obtaining a license

Failure to comply with the licensing requirements of this ordinance shall constitute an Infraction, punishable by a fine of $150.00

SECTION 8 Confinement of unspayed female dogs

The owner, keeper or harborer of any female dog, not spayed or altered, during the time she shall be in heat, shall keep such dog totally inaccessible to any male dog except one chosen for selective breeding.

SECTION 9 At Large Dogs

  1. It is unlawful for the owner, keeper or harborer of any dog to allow said dog to run at large within the limits of the city of Georgetown. Such dog shall be confined and restricted to the premises of the owner, keeper or harborer and shall be allowed to go at large only under control of a person holding a leash no longer than ten feet (10'), securely attached to the animal and of sufficient tensile strength to restrain it, or unless the dog is confined in a motor vehicle in such manner that neither its claws or teeth can extend beyond the exterior of the vehicle.
  2. It is unlawful for the owner, keeper or harborer of any dog to allow such dog to chase pedestrians, bicycles, traffic, or moving vehicles upon the city's roads and right of ways.

SECTION 10 Disturbing the Peace

It is unlawful to allow any dog to disturb the peace and quiet of the neighborhood by habitually barking and/or howling.

SECTION 11 Proper Care of dogs

  1. It shall be unlawful for any owner or custodian of any dog to fail to provide the dog with any of the following: clean water daily and sufficient, good and wholesome food, proper shelter and protection from weather including shade in the summer and protection from extreme cold in winter, appropriate veterinary care to prevent suffering and/or treat disease, a clean and wholesome living environment and protection from abuse and misuse.
  2. It is unlawful for the owner/custodian of any dog to keep or maintain any animal on a fixed point tether or chain unless:
    1. The chain or tether must be at least 10 feet (10') in length and placed in an area to prevent the dog from becoming tangled with any item or other animal in the surrounding area or able to leave its property. The chain or tether must be situated where it prevents the dog from reaching a fence or roadway.
    2. No chain or tether shall weigh more than one-eighth (1/8) of the dog's body weight.
    3. Any chain or tether must have swivels on both ends and be attached to a properly fitted buckle type collar or harness worn by the animal. Choke chains or pinch collars are prohibited for purposes of tethering an animal.
    4. Any female dog in estrus (heat) must not be chained or tethered at any time.
    5. Regardless of the above provisions, no dangerous dog may be chained or tethered outside or left alone for any amount of time without an adult present and the animal muzzled.
  3. No owner or custodian of any dog shall willfully abandon such animal on any street, road, highway or public place, or on private property without the consent of the owner thereof to provide care for the animal.
  4. The owner/custodian of any dog that dies shall within twenty-four (24) hours provide for the burial, cremation or other disposition of the body of such dead dog in a safe and sanitary manner.
  5. Georgetown City employees shall dispose of any dog found dead in the city whose owner/custodian cannot be readily ascertained by removing the body for disposition.
  6. It is unlawful for any person to knowingly permit or allow any animal with a contagious or infectious disease upon the public streets, and roadways of this city; or to be in any public building or place; or to expose such animal in public building or place whereby the health and safety of any person may be affected.

SECTION 12 Sanitation Requirements

  1. No owner/custodian of any dog shall cause or allow such dog to soil, defile, urinate or defecate on any public property or upon any street sidewalk, public way, play area or upon private property other than that of the owner unless such owner or custodian immediately removes and disposes of feces deposited by such dog by collection of the feces and removal of such to the property of the animal owner/ custodian for disposition thereafter in a manner permitted by law.
  2. No person owning, harboring or keeping a dog within the city shall permit any waste matter from the animal to collect and remain on the property so as to cause or create an unhealthy, unsanitary, dangerous or offensive living condition on the owner’s or custodian’s property or the property of others. Offensive living conditions shall include, but are not limited to exposure to the odor of accumulated feces or urine.

SECTION 13 Cruelty to animals prohibited

  1. It shall be unlawful for any person to overload or override a dog or expose any dog, excluding dogs used in law enforcement, to any other unreasonable danger to health or life.
  2. It shall be unlawful to willfully and maliciously strike, beat, abuse or intentionally run down with a vehicle any dog or otherwise engage in any act to cause or inflict unnecessary pain, injury, suffering or death of such animal; except that reasonable force may be used to drive away any vicious or trespassing dog. This does not apply to on-duty law enforcement officers duly engaged in the lawful performance of duty while protecting persons from potential immediate harm.
  3. It shall be unlawful for any person, except a licensed veterinarian for humanitarian purpose, to administer poison to any dog or knowingly expose any dog to any poisonous substance, or ground glass, or leave any such substance in any place with intent to injure an animal. The provisions of this section are not applicable to exterminators or property owners using poisons or traps as part of a pest control program or the use of commercial insecticides and rodent baits used to control insect and wild rodents or to employees of the animal control shelter in the discharge of their duties related to euthanasia.
  4. It shall be unlawful to set any trap which is likely to be injurious to domestic animals. Traps obtained from the City Police Department or designated provider are deemed not to be in violation of this section. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent property owners from setting humane traps to capture and dispose of lawn and garden pests, rats, mice, gophers, moles, voles or other animals which constitute a nuisance or are deleterious to their enjoyment of life and property.

SECTION 14 Placing food for animals

It is unlawful to place or offer food or garbage in a public place or a place with public access in a way what attracts stray animals including dogs, cats, raccoons, skunks ad other rodents or vermin believed to carry disease and creates a public nuisance.

SECTION 15 RESERVED

SECTION 16 Confinement of a biting dog

  1. Any dog biting a person or other animal without justifiable provocation shall be confined for a period of fourteen (14) days at a suitable place of impoundment approved by the police officer or city council and may be examined by a licensed veterinarian at the owner’s expense.
  2. Confinement shall be in a solitary kenneling and exclusion from other animals or persons during the fourteen (14) day period. If this is not
    possible, the dog may be quarantined at the home of the owner if this is in Georgetown.
  3. In circumstances where testing is required, the dog must be quarantined for at least fourteen (14) days under veterinary observation and the destruction for the purposes of necropsy.

SECTION 17 Dangerous Dogs

  1. Dangerous Conduct by a Dog Prohibited: The owner or custodian of any dog shall be guilty of a misdemeanor offense when said dog commits any of the acts defined in this chapter as “dangerous conduct” and law enforcement officers may seize the dog or shoot the dog in order to prevent injury to life or property. Conduct shall not be deemed dangerous if the victim (person, domestic animal, or livestock) was committing a tort against the dog’s owner/custodian, or committing a trespass or other tort on the premises of the dog’s owner/custodian.
    “Dangerous conduct” by a dog shall be defined as follows:

    1. If the dog acts, (unprovoked by teasing or taunting, or in a threatening manner by any person), approaching said person in an apparent attitude of attack upon the streets, sidewalks, public grounds or places, or private property not solely owned or possessed by the owner or custodian of the dog; or
    2. Biting, inflicting injury, assaulting, or otherwise attacking a human being or domestic animal or livestock without justifiable provocation.
  2. Prohibited Dog(s): No person may own or harbor or have custodial care of the following types of dangerous dogs:
    1. Any dog with a known propensity, tendency, or disposition to attack unprovoked, to cause injury, or to otherwise endanger the safety of human beings or domestic animals or livestock, unless restrained and/or confined as provided in this chapter; or
    2. Any dog which has been trained as an attack dog, except dogs used by law enforcement agencies.
  3. Impoundment and/or Destruction: Any dog whose owner, or custodian has been found guilty of or entered a plea of guilty to the offense of Dangerous Conduct by his/her dog is subject to impoundment and/or destruction. On the first offense, prior to sentencing, the prosecutor shall advise the court whether the State shall request an order for the destruction of the dog. If the court determines that destruction is warranted, it shall issue and order for the owner/custodian to surrender the dog by five o’clock (5:00) P.M. and authorizing any police officer to enter the property where the dog is located to seize the dog and impound it for destruction if the animal has not been voluntarily surrendered by five o’clock (5:00) P.M. on the date of sentencing.

    Destruction of a dangerous animal, pursuant to this subsection, is permitted even if it has not been involved in a bite or injury of a person (breaking of the skin and has no history of rabies vaccination).

  4. Subsequent Violations:
    1. Upon conviction or plea of guilty to a second or subsequent offense of dangerous dog conduct, regardless of the form of the current or any prior judgment, if the subsequent conduct involved the dog being dangerous, the court shall order destruction of the dog. The court shall issue an order authorizing any law enforcement officer to enter the property where the dog is located and to seize the dog and impound it for destruction if the animal has not been voluntarily surrendered by five o’clock (5:00) P.M. on the date of sentencing.
  5. Owner Liability: An adult owner/custodian of a dangerous dog shall be liable for all injuries and property damage sustained by any person or by any animal caused by an unprovoked attack by any dangerous animal, plus all costs, civil judgments or penalties, criminal fines, final terms, veterinary fees, and any other penalties and orders. In the event that the owner/custodian of the dangerous dog is a minor, the minor’s parent or guardian shall be so liable.
  6. Failure to Surrender Dog: It shall be a separate offense to fail to surrender a dog for impoundment and/or destruction

SECTION 18 Fighting Training and Attack Commands Prohibited

It is unlawful for any person to possess, harbor or maintain any animal for the purpose of fighting or to train, torment, badger, bait or use an animal for the purpose of causing, encouraging it to attack or fight human beings or other animals.

SECTION 19 Impoundment

  1. Impoundment by Property Owner: Any person finding a dog at-large upon his property may impound that animal and shall notify Sheriff’s dispatch personnel that (s)he is holding the dog in their possession and provide a description of the animal.

SECTION 20 Authority to Enforce

  1. Georgetown police officers, or any law enforcement officers are hereby authorized to carry out the duties necessary to enforce this chapter, including licensing, inspections, and enforcement, including issuance of Idaho uniform citations for any violations of this chapter.

SECTION 21 Violation Penalty

Any violation of this chapter by the owner, keeper or harborer of said animal, except for violations of the licensing requirements, shall be deemed a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, said owner, keeper, or harborer shall be subject to a fine, up to one thousand dollars ($1000.00). There shall be no jail time imposed for violation of this ordinance.

Repeal of Ordinance # 97 and Conflicting Ordinances Repealed

Ordinance # 97 is hereby repealed. All ordinances and provisions in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

Reading Requirement of Idaho Code §50-902

One half (1/2) plus one (1) of the members of the full council agree to dispense with the rule requiring the reading of the ordinance on (3) separate occasions.

Severability

Should any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence or clause hereof, or any particular application thereof, is for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of these regulations, it being hereby expressly declared that this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase hereof would have been prepared, proposed, adopted, approved and ratified irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

Effective Date

This ordinance shall be effective upon its passage and publication pursuant to Chapter 9 Title 50 of the Idaho Code.

PASSED AND APPROVED by the Mayor and City Council of the City of Georgetown, Bear Lake County, Idaho, this 9th day of June, 2020.

______________________________
STEPHAN R. WAECHTLER, Mayor

ATTEST:

____________________________
Lynette Smith, City Clerk