§ 90.07 NUISANCES; SEIZURE OF ANIMALS.

   (A)   Habitual barking. It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or harbor a dog which habitually barks or cries. HABITUAL BARKING shall be defined as barking for an interval of at least three minutes with less than one minute of interruption. Such barking must also be audible off of the owner’s or caretaker’s premises.

   (B)   Damage to property. It shall be unlawful for any owner to permit his or her dog or other animal to damage any lawn, garden or other property, whether or not the owner of the dog has knowledge of the damage. Any animal covered by this section may be impounded as provided in this section or a complaint may be issued by anyone aggrieved by an animal under this section, against the owner of the animal for prosecution under this section.

   (C)   Cleaning up litter. The owner of any animal or person having the custody or control of any animal shall be responsible for cleaning up any feces of the animal and disposing of such feces in a sanitary manner if the feces is found on the property of others or on public property.

   (D)   Other nuisances. Any animal kept contrary to this section is subject to impoundment as per § 90.03 of this chapter.

   (E)   Seizure of animals. Any police officer or animal control officer may enter upon private property and seize any animal; provided that, the following exist:

      (1)   There is an identified complaint other than the police officer or animal control officer making a contemporaneous complaint about the animal;

      (2)   The officer reasonably believes that the animal meets either the barking dog criteria set out in division (A) above; the criteria for cruelty set out in § 90.10 of this chapter; or the criteria for an at large animal set out in § 90.01 of this chapter;

      (3)   The officer can demonstrate that there has been at least one previous complaint of a barking dog; inhumane treatment of the animal; or that the animal was at large at this address on a prior date;

      (4)   The officer has made a reasonable attempt to contact the owner of the property and those attempts have either failed or have been ignored;

      (5)   The seizure will not involve the forced entry into a private residence;

      (6)   No other less intrusive means is available to stop either the barking dog, the inhumane treatment of the animal or the at large animal; and

      (7)   Written notice of the seizure, if left in a conspicuous place and if personal contact with the owner of the dog is not possible.

(Prior Code, § 90.07) (Ord. 595, passed 6-1-1999; Ord. 595, passed 7-6-1999) Penalty, see § 90.99