Every Owner shall provide every Animal with sufficient food and water, proper shelter and protection from the weather as described in this section, and veterinary care as needed to prevent suffering and disease.
Animals listed in the Animal Units table in Section 7A-201, and other animals of any type with a typical adult weight exceeding 100 pounds, which graze, exercise, or are quartered outdoors, excluding dogs, shall be provided with an adequate outdoor area. An adequate outdoor area shall consist of at least 0.5 acres of tillable land per Animal Unit, enclosed to contain the animals, and freely available to the animals.
No person shall beat, treat cruelly, torment or otherwise abuse any Animal, or cause or permit any Animal fighting.
No Owner of any Animal shall abandon such Animal. If Animal has been impounded, and the Owner is notified in writing or in person of such impoundment, and refuses to get the Animal released or make arrangements with the shelter, he/she shall be charged with abandonment.
Shelters for dogs and cats shall consist of a structure that is moisture proof, wind proof and of suitable size to comfortably accommodate the Animal and allow retention of body heat. It shall be made of solid floor raised at least four (4) inches off the ground and with the entrance covered by a flexible wind proof material or a self-closing swinging door. It shall also have sufficient quantity of suitable bedding material to provide insulation against the elements and to retain body heat. Domesticated farm animals shall be sheltered according to the generally accepted methods of animal husbandry.
[§ 4-628, amended by Ord. No. 01-03, effective May 17, 2001.]