(a) Quarantine. Every animal that has bitten a person/animal shall be quarantined for a period of not less than ten (10) days. Such quarantine shall be at the Macomb County Animal Control, a veterinary office, or a place designated by the Director. The owner shall surrender the dog to the Director upon request. Should the owner refuse to cooperate, the Director may seek a court order or warrant to enforce the quarantine in accordance with Sections 2241 and 2242 of the Public Health Code.
(b) Public Health Hazard. The Director may declare any animal that is known to have bitten a person or other animal, or be infected with/exposed to a zoonotic disease, a public health hazard. At their discretion, the Director may require that the animal be removed from the community, quarantined or confined in a manner specified by the Director. Should the owner refuse to cooperate, the Director may seek a court order or warrant to enforce the removal, quarantine, or confinement in accordance with Sections 2241 and 2242 of the Public Health Code. The Director shall give written notice to the owner of their intent to petition a court of competent jurisdiction for authorization to euthanize or otherwise dispose of the animal. The owner shall then have forty-eight (48) hours to respond before the petition is filed.
(c) Defecation. A person who owns or has custody or control of an animal shall prevent the animal from defecating on any public or private property other than their own or shall immediately collect and properly dispose of all fecal matter deposited by the animal while it is off his property.
(d) Nuisance or Dangerous Animal. A person who owns or has custody of an animal shall prevent the animal from engaging in nuisance or dangerous behavior. An animal running at large, on public or private property other than that of its owner or keeper, whose behavior constitutes a nuisance shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Making physical contact with a person or other animal in a harassing manner;
(2) Urinating or defecating;
(3) Damaging inanimate personal property;
(4) Incessant barking as to unreasonably disturb the peace:
A. Evidence that the dog(s) has/have barked or howled for an aggregate period of twenty (20) minutes out of one (1) hour shall be sufficient for conviction. If the nuisance barking or howling complaint is determined to be provoked by any other animal or nearby pedestrian(s), it may be excluded from the aggregate time if the owner:
(i) Provides documentation that the provocation exists and cannot be avoided; and
(ii) Takes remedial steps to change the environment of the dog(s) and abate the nuisance within a three-month period from the date of the complaint,
B. Upon evaluation of the report, if in the opinion of the animal control officer the dog is creating a nuisance by barking or howling incessantly or continuously, the animal control officer shall issue a citation to the owner of said animal for a violation of this section. Such violation shall be an infraction. Personal appearance before the court shall be mandatory.
(e) Potentially Dangerous Dog. The purpose of this section is to establish a procedure for identifying dogs that pose a potential or significant threat to the safety of people, animals, or property, to impose precautionary restrictions on such dogs in an effort to prevent a serious injury from occurring, and to promote responsible ownership of all dogs within the County.
(1) Determination of a Potentially Dangerous Dog. The determination that a dog is potentially dangerous shall be based on the following specific behaviors exhibited by the dog:
A. Menaces, chases, displays threatening or aggressive behavior toward, or otherwise threatens or endangers the safety of a person or domestic animal.
B. Causes injury to a person or domestic animal that is less than a severe injury. For purposes of this section, the term "severe" injury means permanent, serious disfigurement, serious impairment of health, or serious impairment of a bodily function.
C. Aggressively bites a person or domestic animal. For purposes of this section, the term "aggressively bites" means the dog physically bit the person or animal in a manner not normally associated with playfulness or accidental behavior while exhibiting objective signs of aggression, attack behavior, or intent to harm. The damage inflicted by a bite, or lack thereof, may also be used by animal control officials as a factor in determining whether a bite was aggressive.
D. Any of the behaviors listed above exhibited in another community and documented in an official report of any law enforcement or animal control agency.
(2) Notice of Determination. An Animal Control Deputy shall have the authority to make a determination that a dog is potentially dangerous if the Animal Control Deputy concludes the dog has exhibited the behaviors specified in this section. The owner or keeper of a dog determined to be potentially dangerous shall be provided with a notice containing the following information:
A. A summary of the findings that form the basis for the determination that the dog is potentially dangerous.
B. Notice of requirements necessary to possess a potentially dangerous dog in the municipality or County.
C. Notice of the right to request removal of the potentially dangerous classification after the dog has resided and been licensed within the County for a minimum of three (3) full years following the date that the dog is licensed with the County as a potentially dangerous dog without any violations of the conditions required for keeping the potentially dangerous dog and without any new incidents involving behavior by the dog that would qualify for a potentially dangerous determination pursuant to this section. The removal request shall be sent in writing to animal control. The decision to remove the potentially dangerous classification shall be made in the first instance by animal control upon a review of the history of the dog and its residence for the three (3) years preceding the date of the removal request, including a premises inspection and an inspection of the dog to ensure that the conditions set forth in this section have been followed.
(3) Mitigating Circumstances. An Animal Control Deputy shall have discretion to refrain from making a potentially dangerous determination if the Animal Control Officer determines that the behavior was the result of the victim abusing or tormenting the dog, was directed toward a trespasser or person committing or attempting to commit a crime, involved accidental or instinctive behavior while playing, did not involve a significant injury, or other similar mitigating or extenuating circumstances.
(4) Impoundment. A dog that is determined to be potentially dangerous shall be removed from the municipality and placed with the Department or, in the discretion of Animal Control, the owner may authorize placement of the dog at a residential home outside of the Township, or with a qualified rescue organization or qualified dog lodging business, during any quarantine period and until the owner has either confirmed a new place of residence for the dog outside of the Township. If the dog is not being housed at the Department, it must first be microchipped with all information required by Animal Control. All impoundment, lodging, and microchipping costs are the sole responsibility of the dog's owner.
(5) Requirements for Possession of a Potentially Dangerous Dog. If the owner of the dog requests that the dog be permitted to return to the Township, its return shall not be permitted until the following requirements have been satisfied:
A. Animal Control shall confirm the following:
(i) The owner or keeper shall install secure fencing at the property where the dog will reside which is maintained in good repair with self-locking ingress or egress gates. The fencing may be any combination of chain link fencing and/or privacy fencing, shall only be installed upon obtaining all required fence permits from the Township, and shall pass all required inspections prior to the dog's return to the property.
(ii) When removed from the property of the owner or keeper, a potentially dangerous dog shall always be restrained by a secure leash of no more than four (4) feet in length and under the control of a capable person.
(iii) A potentially dangerous dog shall have a microchip implanted by a licensed veterinarian. The microchip shall contain the name and approximate age of the dog, its classification as potentially dangerous, and the name, address, and telephone number of the registered owner.
(iv) The owner shall obtain and maintain public liability insurance with policy coverage in the minimum amount of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).
(v) Two (2) recent color photographs of the dog, which clearly show the color and approximate size of the animal, shall be provided to Animal Control.
(vi) The potentially dangerous dog shall meet the requirements of the AKC's Canine Good Citizen Program, or its equivalent, to the satisfaction of Animal Control. Dogs that are under one (1) year of age are ineligible for the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program, so such dogs must be enrolled in or have completed the AKC START Program or an equivalent approved by Animal Control. The dog may not return to its Township residence until these requirements have been met, but it may be kept at a qualified rescue or dog housing business until proof of successful completion of the program is submitted to, and acknowledged by, Animal Control. For every future violation of this chapter for which a dog may be determined to be potentially dangerous which occurs after the dog has completed the requirements of this subsection and been properly registered under this section, additional training or testing, including but not limited to renewing the dog's compliance with this division, may be imposed by Animal Control as a condition of continuing to keep the dog within the Township unless the dog's status is changed to dangerous due to the nature or frequency of the new violation(s).
(vii) The potentially dangerous dog, if over twelve (12) weeks old, has been spayed or neutered.
(viii) All impoundment and lodging costs have been paid by the owner.
B. Before the dog returns to any property within the Township other than a qualified rescue organization or a boarding business, the owner of a potentially dangerous dog shall ensure that the dog's license is current and shall register the dog with the Macomb County Animal Control as a potentially dangerous dog with all information required by the these best practices, as well as the following:
(i) Proof of Animal Control's certification that the required fence, self-locking gate, and leash have all been procured for the dog.
(ii) Proof of microchipping and the information contained on the microchip. The owner shall ensure that the microchip information is kept up to date.
(iii) Proof of the required insurance policy.
(iv) Proof of the successful completion of the required training and temperament testing.
(v) Two (2) recent color photographs of the dog, which clearly show the color and approximate size of the animal.
C. The owner or keeper of a potentially dangerous dog must, within ten (10) business days, report to the Macomb County Animal Control if the dog has been permanently removed from the Township, has died, or has relocated within the Township. The new address of a relocated potentially dangerous dog shall be provided as part of the report.
D. After its initial registration, a potentially dangerous dog shall be registered with the Department annually and its owner or keeper shall pay a registration fee established by the Macomb Office of the County Executives annual discretionary fees approval process. This registration and fee shall be in addition to any other requirements for annual licensing of an animal.
(6) Visiting Dogs. Any dog that does not reside within the municipality and is licensed by another community but which is determined to be a potentially dangerous dog pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the conditions for possessing a potentially dangerous dog within the municipality, except that the dog shall be microchipped before its release, all impound and microchipping costs shall be paid by the owner, and its owner and keeper shall be advised by Animal Control that the dog is not to return unless all of the conditions for possessing a potentially dangerous dog are first satisfied. In the event the dog is subsequently in the municipality without full compliance with the requirements for possessing a potentially dangerous dog, the person harboring or possessing the dog shall be subject to the penalties set forth in this subchapter.
(7) Penalties. Any person who owns, harbors, keeps, or possesses a potentially dangerous dog in violation of any of the requirements of this section for possessing a potentially dangerous dog, or who in any way aids or abets such ownership, harboring, keeping, or possession, shall be in violation set forth in this subchapter.
(Ord. 484. Passed 2-27-23.)