Chapter 6.05
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sections:
6.05.020 Enforcement generally.
6.05.040 Confinement, restraint and prevention of nuisances.
6.05.050 Impoundment and violation notice.
6.05.060 Animal care and treatment.
6.05.070 Keeping of wild animals.
6.05.080 Performing animal exhibitions.
6.05.010 Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
“Animal” means any live, vertebrate creature, domestic or wild.
“Animal shelter” means any facility operated by a humane society or municipal agency or its authorized agents for the purpose of impounding or caring for animals held under the authority of this chapter or state law.
“Auction” means any place or facility where animals are regularly bought, sold or traded, except for those facilities otherwise defined in this chapter. This definition does not apply to individual sales of animals by owners.
“Circus” means a commercial variety show featuring animal acts for public entertainment.
“Commercial animal establishment” means any pet shop, grooming shop, auction, riding school or stable, zoological park, circus, performing animal exhibition or kennel.
“Grooming shop” means a commercial establishment where animals are bathed, clipped, plucked or otherwise groomed.
“Humane officer” means any person designated by the state, municipal government or a humane society as a law enforcement officer who is qualified to perform such duties under law.
“Humane society” means any organization for the prevention of cruelty to animals incorporated under the laws of the state.
“Kennel” means an establishment wherein any person engages in the business of boarding, breeding, buying, letting for hire, training for a fee, or selling dogs and cats.
“Owner” means any person, partnership, or corporation owning, keeping or harboring one or more animals. An animal shall be deemed to be harbored if it is fed or sheltered for three consecutive days or more.
“Performing animal exhibition” means any spectacle, display, act or event other than circuses, in which performing animals are used.
“Pet” means any animal kept for pleasure rather than utility.
“Pet shop” means any person, partnership or corporation, whether operated separately or in connection with another business enterprise except for a licensed kennel, that buys, sells, or boards any species of animals.
“Public nuisance” means any animal which:
(A) Molests passersby or passing vehicles;
(B) Attacks other animals;
(C) Trespasses on school grounds;
(D) Is repeatedly at large;
(E) Damages private or public property;
(F) Barks, whines or howls in an excessive, continuous or untimely fashion which, by causing frequent or long continued noise, shall disturb the comfort or repose of any persons in the vicinity.
“Restraint” means any animal secured by a leash or lead, or under the control of a responsible person and obedient to that person’s commands, or within the real property limits of its owner.
“Riding school or stable” means any place which has available for hire, boarding and/or riding instruction any horse, pony, donkey, mule or burro.
“Veterinary hospital” means any establishment maintained and operated by a licensed veterinarian for surgery, diagnosis and treatment of diseased and injured animals.
“Vicious animal” means any animal which constitutes a physical threat to human beings or other animals.
“Wild animal” means any live monkey (nonhuman primate), raccoon, skunk, fox, poisonous snake, leopard, panther, tiger, lion, lynx, or any other warm-blooded mammal which can normally be found in wild areas.
“Zoological park” means any facility other than a pet shop or kennel displaying or exhibiting one or more species of nondomesticated animals operated by a person, partnership, corporation or government agency. [Ord. 730, 1976. Code 1983 § 4-1; Code 2000 § 92.01].
6.05.020 Enforcement generally.
The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the Highland police department, its designated animal control official, or the chief inspector or associate inspector for code enforcement of the town. [Ord. 730, 1976; Ord. 1012, 1995. Code 1983 § 4-2; Code 2000 § 92.02].
6.05.030 Licensing authority.
Written applications for licenses provided for under this chapter shall be made to the clerk-treasurer of the town who shall be empowered to issue all permits and perform all other functions granted to the “licensing authority” under this chapter. [Ord. 730, 1976. Code 1983 § 4-3; Code 2000 § 92.03].
6.05.040 Confinement, restraint and prevention of nuisances.
(A) All dogs shall be kept under restraint.
(B) Every owner shall exercise proper care and control over his animal to prevent it from becoming a public nuisance.
(C) Every female dog or cat in season shall be confined in a building or secure enclosure in such a manner that such female dog or cat cannot come into contact with another animal except for planned breeding.
(D) Every vicious animal shall be confined by the owner within a building or secure enclosure and shall be securely muzzled or caged whenever off the premises of its owner.
(E) It shall be unlawful for any animal to make, continue, or cause to be made or continued any loud barking, whines or howls in an excessive, continuous, or untimely fashion which by causing frequent or loud continued noise shall disturb the comfort or repose of any person in the vicinity. [Ord. 730, 1976. Code 1983 § 4-4; Code 2000 § 92.04].
Penalty, see HMC 6.05.110.
Statutory reference: Livestock and poultry at large, see IC 15-2.1-21-8.
6.05.050 Impoundment and violation notice.
(A) Unrestrained dogs and nuisance animals shall be taken by the police animal control officers or other designated humane officers and impounded in an animal shelter and there confined in a humane manner.
(B) If, by a license tag or other means, the owner of the impounded animal can be identified, the animal control officer shall immediately upon impoundment notify the owner of the impoundment by telephone or by mail, and maintain a contemporaneous record of the communication, noting particularly the time of day and the date of the communication or attempt.
(C) An owner reclaiming an impounded animal shall pay a reclaiming fee of $25.00, plus a fee of $15.00 for each full or partial day the animal has been impounded.
(D) An animal not reclaimed by its owner within the legal impoundment period shall become the property of the town or the humane society in which such animal may be placed, and shall be placed for adoption in a suitable home or humanely euthanized. The owner of an unclaimed animal shall still be responsible for fees under this section.
(E) The legal impoundment period shall be either not less than five working days or until the impounded animal is properly reclaimed by its owner, whichever occurs sooner.
(F) No unclaimed dog or cat shall be released for adoption in a suitable home without a written agreement from the adopter agreeing to and guaranteeing that such animal will be sterilized. If an adopted dog or cat is subsequently impounded and not sterilized, it shall not be released. [Ord. 1336 § 1, 2006. Code 2000 § 92.05].
6.05.060 Animal care and treatment.
(A) Every owner shall provide his animals with sufficient good and wholesome food and water, proper shelter and protection from the weather, veterinary care when needed to prevent suffering, and with humane care and treatment.
(B) No person shall beat, cruelly ill-treat, torment, overload, overwork, or otherwise abuse an animal, or cause, instigate or permit any dogfight, cockfight, bullfight or other combat between animals or between animals and humans.
(C) No person shall abandon such animal.
(D) No person shall crop a dog’s ears, except when a licensed veterinarian issues a signed certificate that the operation is necessary for the dog’s health and comfort, or except where said cropping is done for the purpose of showing the animal, and in no event shall any person except a licensed veterinarian perform such an operation.
(E) Chickens, ducklings, or rabbits younger than eight weeks of age shall not be sold in quantities of less than 12 to a single purchaser.
(F) Any person who, as the operator of a motor vehicle, strikes a domestic animal, shall stop at once and render such assistance as may be possible and shall immediately report such injury or death to the animal’s owner; in the event that the owner cannot be ascertained and located, such operator shall at once report the accident to the appropriate law enforcement agency, or to the local humane society.
(G) No person shall expose any known poisonous substance, whether mixed with food or not, so that the same shall be liable to be eaten by any animal; provided, that it shall not be unlawful for a person to expose on his own property common rat poison mixed only with vegetable substances.
(H) If a person is found guilty of violating this section, his permit or license to own or keep or to have custody of animals shall be deemed automatically revoked and no new permit or license shall be issued for a period of two years and only after approval by the licensing authority upon the determination that such person is not disposed to a repetition of such acts of cruelty. [Ord. 730, 1976. Code 1983 § 4-6; Code 2000 § 92.06].
Penalty, see HMC 6.05.110.
Statutory reference: Cruelty to animals, see IC 35-46-3-3 et seq. Sale of colored fowl, etc., see IC 15-2.1-21-13.
6.05.070 Keeping of wild animals.
(A) No person shall keep or permit to be kept on his premises any wild or vicious animal for display or for exhibition purposes, whether gratuitously or for a fee. This section shall not be construed to apply to zoological parks, performing animal exhibitions or circuses.
(B) No person shall keep or permit to be kept any wild animal as a pet. [Ord. 730, 1976. Code 1983 § 4-7; Code 2000 § 92.07].
Penalty, see HMC 6.05.110.
6.05.080 Performing animal exhibitions.
(A) No performing animal exhibition shall be permitted in which animals are induced or encouraged to perform through the use of chemical, mechanical, electrical or manual devices in a manner which will cause, or is likely to cause, physical injury or suffering.
(B) All equipment used on a performing animal shall fit properly and be in good working order and condition. [Ord. 730, 1976. Code 1983 § 4-8; Code 2000 § 92.08].
Penalty, see HMC 6.05.110.
6.05.090 Rabies control.
(A) It shall be unlawful for any person to own or harbor a dog or cat over the age of four months without a valid rabies vaccination.
(B) Persons bringing dogs or cats into the town shall have readily available, as proof of vaccination, a valid rabies certificate signed by a licensed veterinarian or issued by an approved governmental agency. Animals which do not qualify shall either be immediately removed from the town or be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian.
(C) Any animal having a valid rabies vaccination which bites a person shall be quarantined on the premises of its owner under supervision of the county health department for the period of time ordered by such department. The animal shall be securely confined and kept from contact with any other animal during quarantine.
(D) If any animal shall be confined in any animal shelter, veterinary hospital, or in any means placed under the custody of the town, and said animal has not had the required rabies shots, then prior to the release of said animal, the required rabies shots must be given at the sole expense of the owner of said animal. The expense of said rabies shots and/or treatment shall be paid by the owner prior to the animal’s release.
(E) No person shall knowingly allow such confined animal to escape, or sell, give away, or otherwise dispose of such animal before the expiration of the quarantine period. [Ord. 730, 1976. Code 1983 § 4-9; Code 2000 § 92.09].
Penalty, see HMC 6.05.110.
Statutory reference: Rabies control generally, see IC 15-2.1-6-1 et seq.
6.05.100 Animal waste.
The owner of every animal shall be responsible for the removal of any excreta deposited by his animal on public walks, recreation areas, or private property. [Ord. 730, 1976. Code 1983 § 4-10; Code 2000 § 92.10].
Penalty, see HMC 6.05.110.
6.05.110 Penalty.
(A) Except as otherwise provided, any person, entity or organization who shall violate HMC 6.05.040(A), (B) or (E), 6.05.090, 6.05.100, or 6.10.010 shall be fined in the amount set forth in the designated schedule as a payable offense subject to admission before the violations clerk of the ordinance violation bureau in the amount set forth in the admissions clerk payable offenses schedule in HMC 9.85.060.
(B) If such persons, entity or organization shall violate HMC 6.05.040(A), (B) or (E), 6.05.090, 6.05.100, or 6.10.010 and there is a failure to satisfy the civil violation as set forth in Chapter 9.85 HMC, then such violations shall be construed as justiciable offenses, and upon conviction or a finding of liable, shall be subject to a fine of not less than $10.00, and no more than $100.00 per violation. Each day of such unlawful activity as is prohibited shall be deemed a separate offense.
(C) Any person violating any other provisions of this chapter excluding those provisions set forth in subsections (A) and (B) of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than $10.00, and no more than $100.00 per violation. Each day of such unlawful activities as is prohibited shall be deemed a separate offense. [Ord. 1471 § 1, 2010. Code 1983 § 4-11; Code 2000 § 92.99].
Statutory reference: Limitations on penalties, see IC 36-1-3-8(9) and (10).