Chapter 6.04
DEFINITIONS
Sections:
6.04.010 Definitions generally.
6.04.040 Animal control officer.
6.04.140 Owner – Custodian – Keeper.
6.04.210 Wild animal – Exotic pet.
6.04.300 Potentially dangerous dog.
6.04.010 Definitions generally.
As used in this title unless the context otherwise indicates, the words and terms set out in this chapter shall have the meanings set out in this chapter. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.020 Allow.
“Allow” means to permit by neglecting to restrain or prevent. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.030 Animal.
“Animal” means any nonhuman, living creature, domestic or wild, male or female, natural or sterilized. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.040 Animal control officer.
“Animal control officer” means any person designated by the city appointing authority to carry out the provisions of this title under the laws of the state of Washington and the city of Asotin. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.050 Animal shelter.
“Animal shelter” means any premises designated by the city authority for the purpose of impounding and caring for animals held under authority of this title. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.060 At large.
“At large” means to be off the premises of the owner and not under the control of the owner or another. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.070 Chief of police.
“Chief of police” means the chief of police of the city and any other person acting under his orders or direction. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.080 Circus.
“Circus” means a nonresident variety show which features animal acts. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.090 Dog.
“Dog” means any member, male or female, of the family Canis familiaris. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.100 Harboring.
The occupant of any premises on which an animal remains or to which it customarily returns daily for food and care for three consecutive days or more is presumed to be “harboring” or keeping the animal within the meaning of this title. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.110 Kennel.
“Kennel” means an establishment having four or more dogs whose primary purpose is for the housing, caring for, boarding, breeding, buying, grooming, letting for hire, training for fee, or selling. An adult dog is one of either sex, altered or unaltered, that has reached the age of six months. This does not include a veterinary clinic where animals are kept only as a necessary part of medical treatment. (Ord. 18-835 § 1, 2018; Ord. 02-605 § 1, 2002; Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.120 Leash.
“Leash” includes a cord, thong, leash or chain not more than eight feet in length by which an animal is controlled by the person accompanying it. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.130 Neutered animal.
“Neutered animal” includes both male and female dogs rendered incapable of reproducing any offspring. Proof of such sterilization must be evidenced by the certificate of a licensed veterinarian. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.140 Owner – Custodian – Keeper.
“Owner,” “custodian” or “keeper” means any person, firm, association, corporation or partnership, owning, keeping or harboring an animal, or their agents or persons acting with their permission. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.150 Premises.
“Premises” means all the real property under one’s ownership inside the inner line of a sidewalk or, if there is no sidewalk, inside the curb, ditch or shoulder marking the edge of the used public right-of-way. “Premises” also means the inside of a closed motor vehicle. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.160 Spayed female.
“Spayed female” includes a female dog which has been sterilized by a licensed veterinarian to avoid or prevent conception. Proof of such sterilization must be evidenced by the certificates of a licensed veterinarian. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.170 Theatrical exhibit.
“Theatrical exhibit” means any exhibition or act featuring performing animals. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.180 Under control.
“Under control” means that the owner, by means of a leash, restrains the dog to the owner’s immediate proximity preventing the dog from trespassing upon the property of others or annoying or chasing other persons, animals or vehicles of any sort. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.190 Veterinary hospital.
“Veterinary hospital” means any establishment maintained and operated by a licensed veterinarian for the boarding of animals or the diagnosis, treatment and care of diseased or injured animals. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.200 Vicious animal.
“Vicious animal” means any animal which demonstrates the propensity to do any act that might endanger the safety of any person, animal or property of another, including, but not limited to, a disposition to mischief or fierceness as might occasionally lead to attack on human beings without provocation, whether in play or outbreak of untrained nature. (Ord. 02-605 § 1, 2002; Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.210 Wild animal – Exotic pet.
“Wild animal” or “exotic pet” means any nondomestic animal which is normally found in a wild state or is imported from the wild state of another country, including, without limitation, poisonous snakes or snakes capable of inflicting physical harm to a human, monkeys, bats, coyotes, kinkajous, deer, beavers, skunks, raccoons, alligators, crocodiles, falcons, eagles, hawks; but not including hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, parakeets, canaries, white mice, or white or parti-colored rats. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.220 Zoological garden.
“Zoological garden” means any park or zoo operated by a person or a private corporation. (Ord. 84-331 § 1, 1984; Ord. 263 § 1, 1978)
6.04.230 Barking dog.
“Barking dog” means any dog which, by habitual howling, yelping or barking, annoys, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of others in a neighborhood or public place. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.240 Domestic animal.
“Domestic animal” means, but is not limited to, any dog, cat, rabbit, horse, mule, ass, bovine animal, lamb, goat, sheep, hog, or other animal made to be domestic. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.250 Euthanasia.
“Euthanasia” means the humane destruction of an animal, accomplished by a method that involves instantaneous unconsciousness and immediate death, or by a method that causes painless loss of consciousness and death during such loss of consciousness. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.260 Grooming parlor.
“Grooming parlor” means any place or establishment, public or private, where animals are bathed, clipped or combed for a consideration, for the purpose of enhancing their aesthetic value. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.270 Officer or official.
“Officer” or “official” means any police officer or any officer, official person or persons designated by the city or by ordinance of this city to issue licenses, pick up, restrain, impound, sell, dispose or give notice of any other acts, duties or functions prescribed by ordinance of the city relating to the animals regulated in this chapter. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.280 Restraint.
An animal is considered to be under “restraint” if it is confined within the property limits of its owner by a suitable fence or securely fixed object. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.290 Shelter.
“Shelter” means a facility which is used to house or contain stray, homeless, abandoned or unwanted animals and which is owned, operated or maintained by a public body, an established humane society, animal welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals or other nonprofit organization devoted to the welfare, protection and humane treatment of animals. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.300 Potentially dangerous dog.
“Potentially dangerous dog” means any dog that, when unprovoked, (a) bites a human or a domestic animal either on public property or private property, or (b) chases or approaches a person(s) on the streets, sidewalks or any public grounds in a menacing fashion or apparent attitude of attack, or (c) has a known propensity, tendency, or disposition to attack unprovoked, to cause injury or to otherwise threaten the safety of humans or domestic animals, or (d) is a Pitbull Terrier or any dog commonly recognized as a Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier or Staffordshire Bull Terrier. (Ord. 06-694 § 1, 2006; Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.310 Dangerous dog.
“Dangerous dog” means any dog that according to the records of the city animal control authority, animal control officer, and municipal officers or officials, as defined: (a) has inflicted severe injury on a human being without provocation on public or private property, or (b) has killed a domestic animal without provocation while off the owner’s property, or (c) has been previously found to be potentially dangerous, the owner having received notice of such, and the dog again aggressively bites, attacks, or endangers the safety of humans or domestic animals. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.320 Vicious dog.
“Vicious dog” means any dog that is bred as a fighting dog, or has particularly vicious characteristics and has the propensity to attack human beings or which has the propensity to do any act which might endanger the safety of any human being, domestic animal or property of another, including, but not limited to, disposition to fierceness as might occasionally lead to attack on human beings without provocation, whether in play or outbreak of untrained nature, or a dog which has been declared a dangerous dog and the dog thereafter inflicts severe injury on a human being. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.330 Severe injury.
“Severe injury” means any injury which breaks the skin, breaks a bone, or causes lacerations requiring multiple sutures or cosmetic surgery. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)
6.04.340 Proper enclosure.
“Proper enclosure” means, while on the owner’s property, a dangerous dog, potentially dangerous dog, or vicious dog shall be securely confined indoors or in a securely enclosed and locked pen or structure, suitable to prevent the entry of young children and designed to prevent the animal from escaping. Such pen or structure shall have secure sides, bottom, and a secure top, and shall also provide protection from the elements for the dog. (Ord. 02-605 § 2, 2002)