As used in this title, the following terms mean, unless otherwise designated:
"Abandonment" means to deposit, leave, drop off or otherwise dispose of any live domestic animal on any public or private property.
"Agent" means person(s) eighteen years or older authorized by an owner to act on the owner's behalf.
"Altered" means any animal that has had an ovariohysterectomy (spayed) or orchiectomy (neutered) by a licensed veterinarian or has been certified by a licensed veterinarian that the animal is incapable of producing offspring.
"Animal" means any live non-human vertebrate creature, domestic or wild.
"Animal Care Services Center" means the facility operated by the City of Columbus or its authorized agents for the purpose of impounding or caring for animals held under the authority of this title or state law.
"Animal Care Services" means the City of Columbus Animal Care Services Department.
"Animal fighting contest" means a conflict between two or more animals. This term does not include a conflict that is unorganized or accidental.
"Animal fighting paraphernalia" means equipment used to train or condition animals for participation in an animal fighting contest or used to stage an animal fighting contest.
"Animal shelter" means any facility operated by a humane society or other municipal agency, or its authorized agents, for the purpose of impounding or caring for animals held under their jurisdiction or state law.
"At large" means any animal that is not under restraint or properly confined by the owner.
"Auctions" means any place or facility where animals are regularly bought, sold, or traded, except those facilities otherwise defined in this title.
"Chicken" means Gallus gallus domesticus, a domestic bird typically kept on a farm. This definition does not include other fowl such as, but not limited to, peacocks, turkeys, or waterfowl.
"Chicken coop" means an enclosed structure for housing chickens that provides shelter from the elements and protection from predators.
"Chicken flock" means one chicken or a group of two or more chickens which contains no more than four hens and not roosters.
"Chicken run" means an enclosed outside yard for keeping chickens that is attached to a chicken coop.
"Confinement" means the physical securing of an animal by leash, lead or secure enclosure.
"Commercial animal establishment" means any auction, circus, performing animal exhibition, pet shop, rescue group, riding school, stable, or zoological park.
"Community Cat" means an unowned, free-roaming cat that has been marked by surgical ear-tip pursuant to the community cat program.
"Community Cat Caretaker" means a person who provides food, water or outdoor areas of shelter to a community cat and who is not otherwise prohibited from owning or keeping animals.
"Community Cat Program" means a comprehensive process whereby unowned free-roaming cats are captured humanely, transported to a veterinarian for evaluation, spay/neuter surgery, rabies vaccination, and marking by surgical ear-tip and are returned to the area or location where the cat was captured.
"Dangerous animal" means any animal that, by its behavior or training, constitutes an immediate or serious physical threat to human beings or other domestic animals. Factors to be considered by the Animal Care Services Commission shall include the following:
1. Circumstances that resulted in any injury or death to persons or animals, or serious destruction of property.
2. Whether the animal was acting to defend itself, its offspring, persons, territory or property or was in some fashion provoked.
3. The number, frequency and seriousness of past events causing damage to persons, property or other animals.
4. The ability of the owner to control the animal, whether the animal has been previously abused and whether the animal's behavior appears to be unpredictable.
5. Potential for future damage by the animal due to the size, muscularity and bite strength of the animal.
6. Lesser weight shall be given toward a finding of dangerousness if any animals killed or injured are traditionally animals hunted for sport or are considered vermin.
7. Greater weight toward a finding of dangerousness shall be given to animals which are dangerous to persons as opposed to other animals.
8. The severity of the injuries shall be weighed in a determination of finding an animal declared dangerous. The Animal Bite Classification System of the Indiana State Department of Health will be used to determine.
"Domestic animal" means animals commonly used as household pets, protection, companions, and for the assistance of disabled persons. Domestic animals included those that are cared for and treated in a manner generally acceptable for pet dogs, cats, and birds. Domestic animals shall include, but not be limited to, dogs, cats, parakeets, finches, spiders, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rats, mice, rabbits, aquarium fish, ferrets, and snakes if cared for in the manner described above.
"Exposed to rabies" means any human or nonhuman warm-blooded mammal that has been bitten or in contact with any other animal known or reasonably suspected to have been infected with rabies.
"Farm Animal" means animals, commonly used for transportation, recreation, food, skins, and other by-products. Farm animals include, but are not limited to horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, mules, donkeys, miniature horses, miniature donkeys, camels, emus, ostrich, llamas, alpacas, mink, fox, bison, chickens, turkeys, quail, pheasants, chinchilla, goose and duck and other animals or fowl or similar characteristics raised for similar purposes.
"Front yard" means the horizontal space between the nearest foundation of a building to the front lot line, extending to the side lines of the lot, and measured as the shortest distance from that foundation to the front lot line.
"Habitual offender" means any person, as determined by a court, having competent jurisdiction, who violates animal care, neglect, welfare, cruel treatment, restraint, confinement, or dangerous animal sections of the Columbus Municipal code or related offenses in other jurisdictions on at least three separate occasions, including, but not limited to, criminal convictions or civil findings in any other municipal, county or state jurisdiction.
"Harboring" means the actions of any person who permits any animal habitually to remain or lodge or to be fed within his home, store, enclosure, yard, or place of business or any premises on which such person resides or controls. An animal shall be presumed harbored if it is fed or sheltered for three consecutive days. This excludes community cats.
"Hunting" means the activity of pursuing animals, as defined by the code of the city while armed with a weapon; provided, however, hunting shall not include the sport of falconry, frog gigging or the sport of fishing.
"Keepers" means veterinarians and operators of kennels, pet shops, boarding kennels, and stables temporarily keeping animals owned by or held for sale to other persons.
"Kennel" means any property where five or more dogs, cats, or other similar animals over the age of four months are kept, raised, cared for, trained, sold, bred, boarded, treated, or groomed either for commercial or non-commercial purposes.
"Kennel operator" means a person who owns and/or operates a kennel.
"Leg-Hold Trap" means a trap that is comprised of a metal foot plate and curved jaws, powered by hefty springs that constricts an animal by the leg. It is usually anchored into the ground by a short chain and metal spike. This is sometimes referred to as a "foot-hold trap."
"Owner" means any person age eighteen years or older owning or harboring one or more animals.
"Person" means any individual, firm, association, Joint Stock Company, Syndicate, partnership or corporation.
"Pet" means any domestic animal that is kept for pleasure rather than for utility. Farm animals shall not be considered pets.
"Pet shop" means any business enterprise except a kennel that buys and sells any species of animal.
"Public nuisance" means any animal or animals that:
1. Chase, charge, impede or threaten passersby or passing vehicles;
2. Attack humans or other animals;
3. Damage public or private property;
4. Bark, whine, or howl in an excessive, untimely or continuous fashion for more than a twenty-minute period of time which annoys or disturbs persons of normal sensitivities.
"Rescue group" means any animal rescue group granted IRC 501 C (3) not-for-profit tax status whose purpose is to promote animal welfare through community awareness, responsible pet adoptions, and spaying and neutering of pets.
"Research laboratory" means any animal research facility registered with the United States Department of Agriculture under the Federal Laboratory Animal Welfare Act.
"Restraint" means under direct control of the owner or limited or restricted within the bounds of the real property of the animal's owner or agent.
"Riding school or stable" means any place that has available for hire, boarding, and/or riding instruction, any horse, pony, donkey, mule or burro.
"Rooster" means a male chicken.
"Secure enclosure" means a physical structure, enclosed building, fence, or pen that is of adequate size and in good repair, where any gate or access is securely latched or bolted, that prevents escape or unrestricted contact with humans or other domestic animals. It does not include underground fencing, electronically controlled collars, tethers, leashes, or chains, unless they are incorporated with the approved enclosure.
"Shelter" means a completely enclosed structure with four solid sides, a constructed floor, a roof that is sloped away from the entrance to protect the animal from weather, and a door opening.
"Stray" means any animal that is not under restraint and/or upon reasonable inquiry does not appear to have an owner.
"Trapping" means to use any device that springs shut suddenly, a pitfall, a snare or other similar device for the purpose of catching and holding animals.
"Unaltered" means any animal that has not had an ovariohysterectomy (not spayed) or orchiectomy (not neutered) by a licensed veterinarian or has been certified by a licensed veterinarian that the animal is incapable of producing offspring.
"Veterinarian" means any person licensed to practice veterinary medicine in the state of Indiana.
"Weapon" means, but shall not be limited to mean, any firearm, any archery equipment, any device used to discharge a projectile either by means of explosion, by force or mechanical means, any sling shot or slings or any device that can hurl a projectile or can be hurled or thrown.
"Wild animals (Class 1)" means any of the following: fish, nonvenomous snake, nonvenomous reptile, nonvenomous amphibian, degu, sugar glider, hedgehog, and/or birds not normally kept as cage birds.
"Wild animals (Class 2)" means any animal or hybrid of any animal that is not a domestic animal or wild animal (Class 1), as defined in this chapter, or any mammal the United States government or the state of Indiana may list or publish as endangered species, or venomous snake, venomous reptile or venomous amphibian. Handling requirements for this class shall be according to industry best practices as determined by Animal Care Services. (Ord. 48-2019, 2019; Ord. 32-2019 § 1, 2019; Ord. 31- 2016 § 1, 2016; Ord. 13-2012 § 3, 2012; Ord. 08- 17 § 1 (part), 2008; Ord. 98-34 § 1, 1998; prior code § 4-1)