§ 603.04 Dog Nuisances
   (a)   No owner or person in charge or control of a dog, or owner or person in charge of a premises on which a dog is located, shall permit a dog nuisance to occur or continue within the City.
   (b)   For the purposes of this section, each of the following constitutes a dog nuisance:
      (1)   Permitting any dog unreasonably to cause annoyance, alarm or noise disturbance to any person or neighborhood by barking, whining, screeching, howling, or other like sounds which may be heard beyond the boundary of the owner, keeper or harborer's property under conditions where the animal sounds are shown to have occurred either as an episode of continuous noise lasting for a minimum period of fifteen (15) minutes, or repeated episodes of intermittent noise lasting for a minimum period of thirty (30) minutes. It shall be an affirmative defense under this division that the animal was intentionally provoked by a party other than the owner to make such noise;
      (2)   A dog which scratches or digs in, or defecates upon any lawn, tree, shrub, plant, or any other public or private property other than the property of the dog's owner or the property of a person in charge or control of the dog;
      (3)   A dog which damages or causes damage to any public or private property other than the property of a person in charge or control of the dog;
      (4)   A dog, without provocation, that jumps on the fence of the dog's owner or person in charge or control of the dog, in a way that scares and intimidates any person;
      (5)   Permitting a dog, without provocation, to bite or otherwise inflict serious injury to a person or companion animal.
   (c)   On complaint of any person to the police that a dog nuisance has occurred or is continuing, a police officer or animal control officer shall issue notice of the complaint to the owner or person in charge or control of the dog which constitutes the nuisance complained of, or to the owner or person in charge of the premises on which the dog nuisance complained of occurs.
   (d)   Any person who fails to abate a dog nuisance after having received a notice under division (c) of this section shall be guilty of creating a dog nuisance. Each day upon which the dog nuisance occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense, and the offender shall be subject to the following penalties:
      (1)   For a first offense, a fine of fifty dollars ($50.00);
      (2)   For a second offense occurring within four (4) months of the first offense, a fine of seventy- five dollars ($75.00);
      (3)   For a third offense occurring within four (4) months of the first offense, a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00);
      (4)   For a fourth and any later offense occurring within four (4) months of the first offense, the dog which constitutes the nuisance shall be impounded under Section 603.03.
      (5)   Whoever violates division (b)(5) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, and such owner's dog will be considered a level two (2) threat under Section 604.01.
   (e)   In addition to any other method of enforcement provided in this section, the offense created in this section may be enforced upon a first, second, or third offense by the issuance of a citation in compliance with Rule 4.1 of the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure.
(Ord. No. 1572-14. Passed 12-8-14, eff. 12-10-14)