Any dog or cat found running at large or otherwise being kept in violation of this chapter may be seized by the codes officer, any police officer or the animal control officer and confined in a facility provided or designated by the city manager. If the owner is known he/she shall be given notice in person, by telephone or by a postcard addressed to his/her last known mailing address. If the owner is not known or cannot be located, notice describing the dog or cat and the location from which it was seized shall be made available at the animal holding facility. In either case, the notice shall state that the impounded dog or cat must be claimed within the time prescribed by Tennessee Code Annotated, § 39-14-210 by paying the facility costs or the dog or cat shall be adopted or humanely destroyed.1
The facility keeper shall be entitled to collect from each person claiming an impounded dog or cat a reasonable fee to cover the costs of impoundment and maintenance of the dog or cat.
Any dog or cat that cannot be safely impounded because of a reasonable belief of imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury to him/her, another animal or the general public may be humanely destroyed by the animal control officer or any police officer.
(1970 Code, § 3-207, as amended by Ord. #001-11-16, Feb. 2002)
1 State law reference
For a Tennessee Supreme Court case upholding the summary destruction of dogs pursuant to appropriate legislation, see Darnell v. Shapard, 156 Tenn. 544, 3 S.W.2d 661 (1928).