(A) It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision of this chapter and any person doing so shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall:
(1) Be punished by a fine of not less than $25.00 nor more than $300.00 for each offense and a similar amount for each successive day such person fails to remedy a prior violation; and/or
(2) Be ordered by the court to turn the animal into the animal control authority for adoption or disposal.
(B) If any person is found guilty by a court of violating section 6-4 of this chapter, his permit to own, keep, harbor or have custody of animals shall be deemed automatically revoked and no new permit may be issued.
(C) Every police officer, code enforcement officer, humane officer, or officer of any animal control authority with which the city has contracted shall be and hereby is authorized to issue an official notice pursuant to section 6-11 of this chapter.
(D) Every police officer shall be and hereby is authorized to issue a uniform citation to any person deemed to be in violation of any of the provision of this chapter. Any person issued a citation for violating any of sections 6-2, 6-6, 6-19, 6-20, and 6-37 may enter a guilty plea and waive his or her court appearance and pay a fine of $25.00 and court costs via U.S. mail or electronically. Should the violator refuse to sign said citation, the officer is authorized to take the person into custody and require an appearance bond in accordance with the bond schedule issued by the court. Any person refusing to sign the citation shall be guilty of a separate offense and shall be charged with interfering with an officer in the performance of his duty.
(E) If a police officer, code enforcement officer, humane officer or officer of any animal control authority with which the city has contracted determines that there has been a violation of section 6-17(d), section 6-18 or section 6-10 of this chapter, such officer may immediately confiscate the vicious animal. The owner of an animal confiscated pursuant to this subsection (E) shall be responsible for reasonable costs incurred for care given to such animal and/or reasonable costs incurred in the destruction of such animal as is authorized by this chapter.
(1964 Code, § 4-38) (Ord. 2162, § 14, passed 3-23-1981; Ord. 3020, § 1, passed 7-12-1999; Ord. 3199, § 3, passed 6-10-2002; Ord. 3524, § 4, passed 7-27-2009)