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HomeMy WebLinkAbout039 - 11/21/1957 - REGULATING DOGS AND REPEALING ORDINANCE NO 002, 1912, AS AMENDED IN ORDINANCE NO 002, 1921, ORDINANC ORDINANCE NO 39, 1957 AN ORDINANCE FOR THE REGULATION OF DOGS IN THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS, AND REPEALING ORDINANCE NO 2, 1912, AS AMENDED IN ORDINANCE NO 2, 1921, ORDINANCE NO 26, 1926, ORDINANCE NO 13, 19342 AND ORDINANCE NO 7, 1937, AND ALL OTHER ORDINANCES AND SECTIONS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT THEREWITH AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS Section 1 Definition of Terms As used in this ordinance, unless the context otherwise indicates a "Dog" shall be intended to mean male or female b "Owner" shall be intended to mean any person or persons, firm, association, or corporation owning, keeping, or harboring a dog c "At large" shall be intended to mean off the premises of the owner, and not under the control of the owner or a member of him immediate family either by leash, cord, chain or otherwise Section 2 Vaccination and License It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog to keep, maintian or allow such dog to run at large unless it shall have been vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian with rabies vaccine, within one year preceding the date on which such dog is kept, maintained or allowed to run at large All dogs kept, harbored or maintained by their owners in the City of Fort Collins shall be vaccinated, licensed and regis- tered if over three months of age The dog license tax shall be $2 00 for each male and spayed female and $2 00 for each unspayed female All license fees shall be annual and shall expire on December 31 of each year and all license fees from July 31 to December 31 shall be one-half of fee set forth herein There shall not be a separate license tag but the vaccination tag shall serve as both the license tag and vaccination tag The City Clerk shall sell such tags to any licensed veterinarian for the above costs The veterinarian shall then issue the license tag upon payment to him of his fee together with the costs of the license tag and issue the owner thereof one of the above described tags The veterinarian, at the end of each calendar year, may turn in to the City Clerk all unused license tags and shall be refunded the amount that he paid for said license tags -1- In any event, all dogs having a home in this City or running at large in this City shall be vaccinated for rabies by a licensed veterinarian or under his supervision not later than December 1, 1957, unless said dog has heretofore been vaccinated for rabies within a time when such vaccination is still ef- fective The owner shall state at the time application is made for such li- cense and upon printed forms provided for such purpose his name and address, and the name, breed, color and sex of each dog owned or kept by him The provisions of this section shall not be intended to apply to dogs whose owners are nonresidents temporarily within the City, provided that said nonresidents are not in the City for more than Thirty (30) days, and if they are in the City for more than Thirty (30) days, then they shall be subject to all the provisions of this ordinance applicable to residents of the City of Fort Collins, The provisions of this section shall not be intended to apply to dogs brought into the City for the purpose of participating in any dog show "Seeing-eye" dogs properly trained to assist blind persons when such dogs are actually being used by blind persons for the purpose of aiding them in going from place to place shall be issued a license tag at no charge to the owner for said li- cense Section 3 Every owner shall be required to provide each dog with a collar and the tag must be affixed to this collar, and shall see that the collar and tag are constantly worn In case a dog tag is lost or destroyed, a duplicate will be issued by the clerk upon presentation of a receipt showing the payment of the license fee for the current year, and the payment of a fifty (50) cent fee for such duplicate Dog tags shall not be transferable from one dog to another and no refunds shall be made on any dog license fee because of death of the dog or the owner's leaving the City before expiration of the license period Section 4 It shall be the duty of every police officer to apprehend any dog found running at large contrary to the'provisions of Section 2 and to impound such dog in the city pound or other suitable place The poundmaster upon receiving any dog shall make a complete registry, entering the breed, -2- color, and sex of such dog and whether licensed If licensed he shall enter the name and address of the owner and the number of the license tag Licensed dogs shall be separated from unlicensed dogs Section 5 Notice to Owner and Redemption Not later than two days after the impounding of any dog the owner shall be notified, or if the owner of the dog is unknown written notice shall be posted for three days at three or more conspicuous places in the City of Fort Collins describing the dog and the time and place of taking, and shall also be published in a Fort Collins newspaper at least once during the said three-day period The owner of any dog so impounded may reclaim such dog upon payment of the license fee, if un- paid, and of all costs and charges incurred by the City of Fort Collins for impounding and maintenance of said dog The following charges shall be paid to the City of Fort Collins for impounding any dog, $1 00, for keeping any er day, dog, 500 7for giving notice, $1 00 and shall pay the veterinarian fee for vaccination of said dog Section 6 Disposition of Unclaimed or Diseased Dogs It shall be the duty of the poundmaster to keep all dogs so imp unded for a period of three days If at the expiration of three days from the date of notice to the owner or the posting of notice such dog shall not have been redeemed, it may be destroyed Any unlicensed dog required by law to be licensed, or any dog which appears to be suffering from rabies or other infectious disease shall not be released but may be forthwith destroyed on advice of the City Veterinarian Section 7 Unclaimed Dogs for Scientific Purposes Whenever any hospital or reputable institution of learning shall apply to the City Manager for permission to use for research of mankind, any impounded dog or dogs re- maining unclaimed, the City Manager shall request the poundmaster to surrender to the institution or hospital such unclaimed dogs as it has requested, and they shall be so surrendered Section a Confinement of Certain Dogs No dog of fierce, danger- ous or vicious propensities and no female dog in heat, whether licensed or not, -3- J L shall be allowed to run at large or upon the premises of one other than the owner If any such dog is found running at large in violation of this provision it shall be taken up and impounded and shall not be released except upon ap- proval of the City Veterinarian after payment of the fees provided in Section 5, PROVIDED,HOWEVER, that if any dangerous, fierce, or vicious dog so found at large cannot be safely taken up and impounded, such dog may be slain by any policeman Section 9 It shall be unlawful for any person to poison any dog or dogs or to distribute poison in any manner whatsoever with the intent or for the purpose of poisoning any dog or dogs within the City of Fort Collins i Any person who shall be convicted of a violation of this section shall be fined in the sum of Twenty-five ($25 00) Dollars for each and every offense Section 10 Any person who shall keep any dog shut up or tied up in any yard, house or other place within the City, which by barking or howl- ing shall disturb the peace and quiet of any family, individual or neighbor- hood, shall, upon conviction, be fined not exceeding the sum of Ten ($10 00) Dollars Section 11 Muzzling Whenever it becomes necessary to safe- guard the public from the dangers of rabies, the Mayor, if he deems it neces- sary, shall issue a proclamation ordering every person owning or keeping a dog to confine it securely on his premises unless such dog shall have a muz- zle 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, unless noticeably infected with rabies All dogs so notice- ably infected with rabies and displaying vicious propensities shall be killed by the City Veterinarian without notice to the owner Dogs impounded by vir- tue of such proclamation shall, if claimed, within five days, be released to the owner, unless infected with rabies, upon payment of the impounding charges 6 provided for in Section 5 If unclaimed after that period, such dog may be summarily destroyed Section 12 Rabies--Notice If a dog is believed to have rabies -4- such dog shall be confined by a leash or chain on the owner's premises and shall be placed under the observation of a veterinarian at the expense of the owner for a period of ten days If a dog has been bitten by a dog suspected of having rabies, such dog shall be confined by a leash or chain on the owner's premises and shall be placed under the observation of a veterinarian at the expense of the owner for a period of six months The owner shall notify the poundmaster of the fact that his dog has been exposed to rabies and at his discretion the poundmaster is empowered to have such dog removed from the owner's premises to a veterinary hospital and there placed under observation for a period of six months at the expense of the owner, or the dog may be destroyed at the option of the owner It shall be unlawful for any person knowing or suspecting a dog has rabies to allow such dog to be taken off his premises or beyond the limits of the City without the written permission of the poundmaster Every owner, or other person, upon ascertaining a dog is rabid shall immediately notify I the poundmaster or a policeman who shall either remove the dog to the pound or summarily destroy it Section 13 Penalties Any owner found violating any provision of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction there- of shall be punished by a fine of not less than $10 00 nor more thap $100 00 for such offense Section 14 Repeal of Conflicting Ordinances This ordinance shall No repeal Ordinance No 2, 1912, as amended in Ordinance/2, 1921, Ordinance No 26, 1926, Ordinance No 13, 1934, and Ordinance No 7, 1937, and all other existing ordinances of the City of Fort Collins are hereby repealed in- sofar as they may be inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance Section 15 Separability of Provisions It is the intention of the Council that each separate provision of this ordinance shall be deemed independent of all other provisions herein, and it is further the intention of the Council that if / any provision of this ordinance be declared invalid, all other provisions thereof shall remain valid and enforceable -5- Section 16 In the opinion of the City Council an emergency exists for the preservation of the public health, peace and safety, and this ordi- nance shall take effect upon its passage and publication under and by virtue of the authority contained in Sections 6 and 7 of Article II of the City Charter Section 17 The matter of the emergency referred to is the possi- bility of an outbreak of rabies within the city limits of the City of Fort Collins due to the fact that there has been an outbreak of rabies in the County of Larimer Introduced, read at length, and adopted by the vote of all mem- bers of the City Council, at an adjourned meeting held this 21st day of November, A D 1957 (224����Maor) i ATTEST City Clerk F -6-