ARTICLE 2: DOGS

Section

   2-201   Definitions

   2-202   Registration and vaccinations

   2-203   Dog tags

   2-204   Same; counterfeit tag

   2-205   Evidence of vaccination

   2-206   Visiting dogs

   2-207   Responsibility for animals

   2-208   Dogs at large

   2-209   Enforcement and penalties

§ 2-201 DEFINITIONS.

   For the purpose of this article, the following definition shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

   OWNER. The person who owns, keeps, harbors or possesses a dog or dogs.

(Ord. 636, passed 12-21-2009)

§ 2-202 REGISTRATION AND VACCINATIONS.

   (a)   Every owner of any dog over six months of age shall annually register with the City Clerk his or her name and address with the name, sex and description of each dog owned and kept within the city. It shall be unlawful for the owner for any newly acquired dog to fail to register such animal within 30 days from acquisition or bringing the dog into the city. It shall be unlawful for the owner of any previously registered dog to fail to maintain current registration of such dog.

   (b)   Upon registration, the owner shall present a current, completed certificate of immunization against rabies. No registration shall follow without evidence of this document, and it shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog over six months of age to fail to maintain effective rabies immunization of such dog.

   (c)   The owner of any dog shall at the time of registering such dog present to the City Clerk a certificate from an accredited veterinarian showing that a male dog has been neutered or a female dog has been spayed if the dog has been neutered or spayed.

   (d)   The City Clerk shall collect an annual registration fee of $5 for each neutered male dog and spayed female dog, and $10 for each unneutered male dog and for each unsprayed female dog.

   (e)   The registration shall be from April 1 through March 31 of each year. The fee shall be payable before April 1 of each year without penalty. Every owner or harborer of dog or dogs who shall fail to register the same prior to April 1 of each year shall pay, in addition to the registration fee herein provided, a penalty fee for late registration of $10.

(Ord. 636, passed 12-21-2009)

§ 2-203 DOG TAGS.

   It shall be the duty of the City Clerk or designated agent upon a showing of current rabies immunization and receipt of the registration fee hereinbefore required to keep in a book suitable for the registration of dogs, the time of the registration, the name of the owner or keeper, the number of the registration and the amount paid therefore, and shall deliver to the owner or keeper of the dog a certificate in writing, stating that the person has registered the dog and the number by which the dog is registered and shall also deliver to the owner or keeper of the dog a tag with the registration number and the registration year thereon, which shall be by the owner or keeper attached to the collar to be used on the dog so registered. When any tag has become lost during a registration period, the owner of the dog may request a duplicate tag for the remainder of the registration period upon the presentation of the registration certificate. The City Clerk shall issue a duplicate of such tag upon the payment of $5. It shall be unlawful for any person to take off or remove the city registration tag from any dog belonging to another or remove the strap or collar on which the same is fastened.

(Ord. 636, passed 12-21-2009)