A. No person shall, without first obtaining a permit therefor in writing from the city treasurer, own, keep, harbor or have custody of any animal over four (4) months of age, except that this section shall not apply to the keeping of small cage birds or aquatic and amphibian animals solely as pets. All dogs and cats shall be microchipped, and the microchip number given to Animal Control. A community cat caretaker shall not be deemed to own, keep, harbor or have custody of community cats for the purposes of this section.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to keep or harbor within the city more than three (3) dogs over four (4) months old, in or about any premises or in or about all buildings on any one premises occupied by any one family, and the keeping or harboring of dogs in excess of this number is hereby declared to be a nuisance; the payment of permit fees on dogs shall not be construed to allow the keeping of more than three (3) dogs; this limitation shall not apply to any person, group of persons or corporations engaged in the commercial business of breeding, buying, selling or boarding dogs, or operating a veterinary hospital or a chartered animal shelter.
C. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to keep or harbor within the city more than three (3) cats over four (4) months old, in or about any premises or in or about all buildings on any one premises occupied by any one family, and the keeping or harboring of cats in excess of this number is hereby declared to be a nuisance. The payment of permit fees on cats shall not be construed to allow the keeping of more than three (3) cats. However, a person may keep up to six (6) cats subject to the following requirements: If the cat has:
1. Been spayed or neutered,
2. Received all required shots,
3. Been reasonably restrained to persons’ premises; provided, however, that the cat creates no nuisance to neighboring property owners,
4. Proof of subsections C1 and C2 of this section required.
This limitation shall not apply to any person, group of persons or corporation defined as “community cat caretaker” under this chapter, engaged in the commercial business of breeding, buying, selling or boarding cats or operating a veterinary hospital or a chartered animal shelter.
D. City residents finding strays may care for the animal until the owner is located if they notify Animal Control, have the animal scanned for a microchip and provide animal control with a photo and any necessary information. If a stray animal housed by a resident is not reclaimed within 10 days, the title of the animal will transfer to the finder or the finder can make arrangements to take the animal to the shelter for adoption or transfer. Regarding owner turn-ins, the animal shelter may accept them only if space is available, unless it is an emergency. The Animal shelter shall be open from 7:00 am - 3:30 pm Monday through Friday. The operating hours will be posted on the city website. (Ord. 7513, 4-27-2016; amd. Ord. 7913, 11-8-2023)