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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970-10 Relating to the Control and Regulation of Dogs, Providing for the Vaccination and Licensing of Dogs; Disposition of Dogs and Matters Relating thereto, Providing Penalties for Violations, Repeal of Ordinance 3, Series 1967- ~ a~ ORDINANCE N0. /~O (Series of 1970) i ~~ AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE CONTROL AND ?tEGULATION OF DOGS: PROVIDII~3G FOR THE VACCIP3ATION AND LICENSING OF DOGS; DISPOSITION OF DOGS AND MATTERS RELATING THERETO; PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATI(1rdS; REPEAL OF ORDINANCE NtJTTBER 13 (Series of 1967); AND SETTIr1(' FORTH MATTERS AND DETAILS IN P.ELATION TF?ERFTO. GIIIEREAS, the Board of Trustees for the Town of Vail finds that dogs running at large within said town constitute a menace to the public health, safety and welfare, and that it is in the public interest to provide for the control and regulation of dogs within the town; and ~^1IIEREAS, the Board of Trustees find that Ordinance Number 13 (Series of 1967) of the Town of Vail does not adequately provide for the control and regulation of dogs within said town and that additional and different pro- visions a~ necessary for the welfare, health and safety of the public; NOIA1, TIiEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED ~iY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE TOt+1N OF VAIL Section 1. Definitions For the purpose of this Ordinance, certain words and terms are herewith defined as follows: DO(: OT~ITIERS : Every person in possession of or harborinr? of any dog or who shall, suffer any such dog to remain about his premises for the period of ten davs, ~. • ~ M ~~ DOG: Any animal of canine species regardless of sex. DOG, MALE: Any dog of masculine gender, either castrated or not castrated. DOG, SPAYED FEMALE: Any female dog on which an ovarectomy or ovarohisterectomy has been performed by a licensed veterinarian and accompanied by a certificate asserting said operation has been performed. DOG, FEMALE: Any dog of the female gender on which no alternative surgery of the genital organs has been performed. LICENSE YEAR: The period from May 1 of any calendar year to April 30 of the follocaing calendar year. RABIES: A communicable disease of both wild and domestic animals transmittable to humans, as defined by the "Public Health Department." "Spcific infectious disease of certain animals, especially dogs and wolves, contracted by man by direct inoculation as by bite of infected animal and due to a filtrable virus." --as defined in Dorland's Medical Dictionary. VACCINATIONS or VACCINATION FOR RABIES: Shall mean inoculation of a dog with standard rabies vaccine. Section No. 2. Dogs Not to Run at Large. It shall be unlawful for the owner or keeper of any dog to permit or allow the dog to run at large or to be off the premises of said owner or keeper-unless the dog is accompanied by a person who maintains direct control and s>>pervision over said dog. Section 3. Annual Vaccination and Licensing of Hogs Required. It shall be the duty of every person who owns or ~, Yiarbors any dog or dogs in the Town of Vail, to have such dog or dogs inoculated by a regularly licensed veterinarian. ~ ~ • ~~ of the State of Colorado and to obtain a certificate from said veterinarian, setting out the fact of such vaccination and also to obtain from the Tocan Clerk of the Town of Vail, Colorado, a license for each dog. Such vaccination and licensing shall be performed during the months of May and June of each calendar year, provided, however, that persons who acquire or harbor anv dog or dogs between July 1 and April 30, shall immediately following such acquisition or upon such harboring, have such dog or dogs inoculated and licensed for the remaining portion of the license year. Section 4. Persons Authorized to Inoculate and Issue Licenses. That inoculation of Bags under this Ordinance may be performed by any licensed veterinarian of. the State of Colorado and that licenses for dogs shall be issued by the Town Clerk of the Town of Vail., Colorado. That the owner or harborer of every dog, so inoculated, shall pay the veter- inarian inoculating same his fee therefor and shal]. pay a license fee to the Town of ~~ail of $2.00 per male or spayed female and $5.00 per unspayed female. Owners applying for .a license for a spayed female shall furnish a certificate showing; that said dog is spayed. Section 5. Duty of Persons_Performin~ Vaccination and Licensn.~. Every veterinarian performing vaccination shall .furnish the oc~rner of any dop; vaccinated a certificate of such vaccination, cahich shall be presented to the Tocan Clerk who, upon payment of the Town license fee, shall issue the license provided far in Section 6, retaining a record thereof ~ • ~~ in his office. No license shall be issued for any dog without the production of certificate of. vaccination and payment of license fee. Section 6. Information on Licenses and Tags. The Town Clerk shall issue a license to the owner or harborer of each dog license hereunder containing the following information: (a) The name and address of the owner, or harborer, of an inoculated and licensed dog. (b) The date of inoculation and date of license. (c) The year and series number of the dog tag. (d) The Breed, age, color and sex of the inoculated dog. Tags shall also be prepared and distributed by the Town Clerk with the license. The tags shall be made of durable material suitable to be attached to the collar or harness of the inoculated dag. Such tag shall state the year for which it is issued and the series number of the license and tag. Section 7. Tag__ to be Attached to Dog and__L_ i_cense F.etained by Owner. Every owner or harborer of a dog shall attach the tag evidencing the licensing and inoculation with anti-rabies vaccine to the collar or harness of the inoculated and licensed dog and such collar or harness shall be worn by said dog at all times. The license shall be retained by the owner or harborer o:E the inoculated and licensed dog for inspection by any member of the Police Department, at any time. • S• • • • Section 8. Registration. Period of validity for license and tag. Such inocu~stion and licsensing shall be valid year in which same is had and for May and ing year. For the period of Mav 1 to June after 1967, the inocuJ_ation and licensing license year and. that for the current lic be valid. for each license June of the follow- 30 of each year from the previous Anse year shall both Section 9. Quarantine of Dogs. A dog which is known to have bitten or injured any person so as to cause an abrasion of the skin or a dog which in the opinion of a member of the Police Department, or of any licensed veterinarian of the State of Colorado, appears to be inflicted with rabies, shall be closely confined by its ocaner in accordance with the directions of a member of the Police Department, or impounded at the discretion o.f the Police Department, for a period of not less than ten days. If said dog shall die while confined or impounded as herein provided, proper medical tests shall be conducted at the expense of the owner upon said dog to determine whether the anima7_ was s~tf.fering from rabies at the date of death. If the owner of. such dog or dogs r_e.ferred to in this section cannot be determined or located, then a member of the Police Depar~lment shall otherwise confine said dog or dogs for a period of not less than ten days. If the owner of said dog is not deteriui_ne~l, l~~cctlc.ci or the dog claimed from confinement within said ten days, then the Town Marshal] may order s~ich dog c~ccLruyed. Pi~uvi.ded, howev~i•, -that all ~~ ~ ~ M ~ ~ cost incurred for the confinement shall be borne by the Town of Vail. If said dog is determined to be suffering from rabies it shall be destroyed forthwith. It shall be unlataful for any person knowing or sus- pectiny, a dog has rabies to allow such dog to be taken of.f his premises or beyond the limits of the Town without the written permission of the Police Department or the pound- master. Every owner or other person, upon ascertaining a dog is rabid shall immediately notify the pour_dmaster or a police- man who shall either remove the dog to the pound or summarily destroy it. Section _10 .___ Imported Dogs . !~11 dogs which are broutiht into the Town of Vail, shall be in compliance ~~~i.th the laws and rules and regulations of the State of Colorado regarding the handling of the animals, and shall have been vaccinated not more than twelve months prior to importation. A ta.g denoting vaccination shall be firmly affixed to the collar or harness of the dog, and shall be evidence of compliance with this Section. If said imported dog remains in the Town of Vail more than th.i7.~ty days, said dog sha17_ be licensed in accor- daiic:e ~•aith the pravis~_ono o~ this urdi Hance . !~ certificate of vaccination issued by a licensed veterinarian to the oumer or harborer of a dog within the current license near by anv municipality, county or state, sht~ll be exchanged for a ~:urrent license year by any municipality, county or state, shall be exchanged for a curr~iit inoc:ul ation .~nc~ 1. icense tag of the `Town of. Vail and a transCe,.~ f~:e of $1.00 im~~csed tr~r~nn for mal ~ ~>r ~~zy~rl f~~mal and $3 .0(J fir an unspavPd femaJ ~ . . • • i Section 11. Unlawful Possession of Licenses. Only those persons who own or harbor a dog duly vaccinated and licensed in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance shall be permitted to possess the licenses and tags provided for herein. No person may affix a tag eviden- cing vaccination and licensing, to the collar or harness of any dog, except the tag issued for that dog at the time of licensing. Section 12. Impounding. A. It shall be the duty of every police officer or Poundmaster to apprehE:nd any dog found running at large contrary to the provisions of Section 2 or not duly vaccinated and licensed as herein provided to impound such dog in the Vail pound or other suitable place. The Poundmaster (or some other designated official) upon receiving any dog shall make a complete registry entering the breed, color and sex of such dog a.nd whether licensed. If. licensed, he shall enter the name and address of the owner and the number of the license tai,. B. Not later than 2 days after the impounding of any dog the ot~rner shall be notified, or. i_f the owner of the dog is unknown, written notice shall be posted for 3 days at one or more conspicuous places in the Town of Vail describing the dog and the plac,~ and time. of taking. The owner. of the dog so iTnpounded may reclaim. such dog upon payment of the license fee, if unpaid, and of all costs and charges incurred by the Town of Vail for impounding and maintenance of said doh. The following charges shall he paid to the Town Clerk for •~ impounding any dog $5.00; for keeping any dog $3.00 per day; for giving notice $1.00. Section 13. Disposition of Unclaimed or Infected Dogs. It shall be the duty of the Poundmaster (or the designated official) to keep all dogs so impounded for a period of six days. If, at the expiration of four days from the date of not3_ce to the owner or the posting of notice such dog shall not have been redeemed, it may be destroyed. Any unlicensed dop required by low to be licensed, or any dog cahich appears to be suffering from rabies or affected with rabies, mange or other infectious or dangerous disease shall not be released but may be forthwith destroyed. Section 14. Destruction of P.abid !'~.nimals. Dogs known to have been bitten or exposed to a rabid animal shall be: A. Placed in suitable quarantine .for a period of not less than 10 days at the expense of the owner. B. ?'here, in the discretion of the Poundmaster or a Police Officer, said doef i~ endangering the life or person of another, said dog may be immediately destroyed. C. ?released upon proof of immunization and "booster" injections, given b_y a qualified veterinarian, at the expense of the oumer . Section 15 . r?uzzling~ an d_ Confinement . rah~~„,,..,~~-• it becomes necessary to safe~uard the n..~.~lc fr. om the danp~ez~s o.f_ rabies , the *~`ayor, if he deems it necessary, shall issue a pz~uc:lauta-tion ur•dering every person • ~ w ~• ocming or keeping a dog to confine it securely on his premises unless such dog shall have a muzzle of sufficient strength to prevent its biting any person. Any unmuzzled dog running at large during the time of. the proclamation shall be seized and impounded, and if noticeably infected with rabies and displaying vicious propensities shall be killed by the Pound- master without notice to the owner. Dogs impounded during the first two days of such proclamation shall, if claimed within five days, be released to the owner, unless infected with rabies, upon payment of the charges provided for in Section 12. If unclaimed. after that period, such dog may be summarily destroyed. Section 16. Vaccination and Licensing. It shall be unlawful for the owner of anv dog to 1<_eep, maintain, or alloc~~ such dog to run at large unless it shall have been vaccinated by a licensed veterinary surgeon with anti-rabies vaccine, within one year preceding the date on which such dag is kept; maintained or allowed to run at lar~rc, and duly licensed as herein provided. Section 17. Disturbance. It shall be unlac~aful for any owner to allow a dog to bark or howl so as to disturb or tend. to disturb the peace arc] quiet of others . Section 18. Vicious Dogs Con.f.ined. It shall btu unlawful for any owner, possessor or person who keeps a vicious dog to permit the same to be or run at large. It shall be the duty of the Police nepax~tment . • ~ ~ ~~ to take up and impound any such animal that is found running at Large. A vicious dog is hereby defined as any dog that bites or snaps at persons upon the streets or other public places, or that runs after or snaps at horses or vehicles upon the public streets or alleys. In the event any dog is found to have bitten persons three times, said dog shall be premanently removed from the town by the owner thereof or otherwise destroyed in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance. Section 19._ Dog;s_- Under _S ix Months. Notwithstanding any provisions of the Ordinance to the contrary, a dog need not be vaccinated or licensed where said dog is under the age of six months. Section 20. Enforcement. The provisions of this Ordinance shall be enforced l:y the Town Police of the Tocan of Vail or by a Poundmaster appointed by the Mayor. Section 21. Penalties. Any owner found violating any provision of this Ordinance shall be quilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished for such offense by imprisonment for not more than ninety days or by a fine of not more than $300.00, ar by both such fine and imprisonment. The following minimum fines shall apply to violations of any provisions of this ordinance: First offense-- $5.00; Second offense-- $25.00; Third offense-- $50.00; Fourth offense-- $_100.00. . ,. • • • ~• Section 22. Separability of Provisions. It is the intention of the Board of Trustees that each separate provision of this Ordinance invalid, all other provisions shall remain valid and enforceable. Section 23. Repeal of Prior Ordinance. Upon enactment of this ordinance, the Roard of Trustees repeals Ordinance Number I3 (Series of 1967). Section 2w. Declaring an emergency. The Board of Trustees find that this ord~.nance is necessary for the protection of the public health, welfare and safetyy that this ordinance shall become effective upon its introduction and adoption and shall be published in accor- dance with the laws of the State of Colorado. i?~TTRODUCED, READ AND ORDERED PUBLISHED THIS 2?th DAY OF JULY 19"70 Attest: