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(a) A police officer or animal warden may impound every dog or other animal found in violation of Section úÿÿ©>B","618.01">618.01. If the impounded dog is not wearing a valid registration tag, the dog shall forthwith be turned over to an officer charged by law with the custody and disposal of such dogs. If the dog is wearing a valid registration tag or the identity of the owner or harborer is otherwise established, notice shall immediately be given to such owner or harborer that the dog has been impounded. Notice may be by telephone or by ordinary mail to the last known address of such owner or harborer. The dog shall not be released except upon the payment of reasonable expenses for its taking and keeping. Any dog not redeemed within three days of the time it is seized or impounded may be sold or otherwise disposed of as provided by Ohio R.C. 955.16.
(b) A record of all dogs impounded, the disposition of the same, the owner’s name and address, if known, and a statement of any costs or receipts involving such dog shall be kept.
(a) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
(1) “Dangerous dog.” A dog that, without provocation, and subject to the following sentence, has chased or approached in either a menacing fashion or an apparent attitude of attack, or has attempted to bite or otherwise endanger any person while that dog is off the premises of its owner, keeper or harborer or some other responsible person, or not physically restrained or confined in a locked pen which has a top, locked fenced yard, or other locked enclosure which has a top. “Dangerous dog” does not include a police dog that has chased or approached in either a menacing fashion or an apparent attitude of attack, or has attempted to bite or otherwise endanger any person while the police dog is being used to assist law enforcement officers in the performance of their official duties.
(2) “Menacing fashion.” A dog that would cause any person being chased or approached to reasonably believe that the dog will cause physical injury to that person.
(3) “Police dog.” A dog that has been trained and may be used to assist one or more law enforcement officers in the performance of their official duties.
(4) “Vicious dog.”
A. A dog that, without provocation and subject to division B. of this definition, meets any of the following criteria:
1. Has killed or caused serious injury to any person;
2. Has caused injury, other than killing or serious injury, to any person, or has killed another dog;
3. Belongs to a breed that is commonly known as a pit bull dog. The ownership, keeping, or harboring of such a breed of dog shall be prima facie evidence of the ownership, keeping or harboring of a vicious dog.
B. “Vicious dog” does not include either of the following:
1. A police dog that has killed or caused serious injury to any person or that has caused injury, other than killing or serious injury, to any person while the police dog is being used to assist law enforcement officers in the performance of their official duties.
2. A dog that has killed or caused serious injury to any person while a person was committing or attempting to commit a trespass or other criminal offense on the property of the owner, keeper or harborer of the dog.
(5) “Without provocation.” A dog acts “without provocation” when it was not teased, tormented, or abused by a person, or it was not coming to the aid or the defense of a person who was not engaged in illegal or criminal activity and who was not using the dog as a means of carrying out such activity.
(ORC 955.11(A))
(b) No owner, keeper, harborer, or handler of a dangerous or vicious dog shall fail to do either of the following:
(1) While the dog is on the premises of the owner, keeper, harborer, or handler, securely confine it at all times in a locked pen that has a top, locked fenced yard, or other locked enclosure that has a top; except that a dangerous dog may, in the alternative, be tied with a leash or tether so that the dog is adequately restrained. If a dangerous dog is restrained by a leash or tether, the leash or tether must be constructed out of materials that:
A. Will withstand the resistance of such dangerous dog without breaking;
B. Cannot be chewed apart or through by such dangerous dog; and
C. Is situated such that there are no structure or implement within the radius of such leash or tether that would sever such leash or tether after continued use.
(2) While the dog is off the premises of the owner, keeper, harborer, or handler, do at least one of the following:
A. Keep the dog in a locked pen that has a top, locked fenced yard, or other locked enclosure that has a top; or
B. Keep that dog on a chain-link leash or tether that is not more than six feet in length and:
1. Have the leash or tether controlled by a person who is of suitable age, size, and discretion; or
2. Securely attach, tie, or affix the leash or tether to the ground or a stationary object or fixture so that the dog is adequately restrained and station a person in close enough proximity to that dog so as to prevent it from causing injury to any person. Any vicious dog maintained under this subsection 618.16(b)(2)B. shall also be muzzled at all times with a muzzle that is designed and worn in a manner to prevent such dog from causing physical harm to any person or other animal.
(c) No owner, keeper, or harborer of a vicious dog shall fail to obtain liability insurance with an insurer authorized to write liability insurance in this state providing coverage in each occurrence, subject to a limit, exclusive of interest and costs, of not less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) because of damage or bodily injury to or death of a person caused by the vicious dog.
(d) No person shall do any of the following:
(1) Debark or surgically silence a dog that the person knows or has reason to believe is a vicious dog;
(2) Possess a vicious dog if the person knows or has reason to believe that the dog has been debarked or surgically silenced;
(3) Falsely attest on a waiver form provided by the veterinarian under division (e) of this section that the person’s dog is not a vicious dog or otherwise provide false information on that written waiver form.
(e) Before a veterinarian debarks or surgically silences a dog, the veterinarian may give the owner of the dog a written waiver form that attests that the dog is not a vicious dog. The written waiver form shall include all of the following:
(1) The veterinarian’s license number and current business address;
(2) The number of the license of the dog if the dog is licensed;
(3) A reasonable description of the age, coloring, and gender of the dog as well as any notable markings on the dog;
(4) The signature of the owner of the dog attesting that the owner’s dog is not a vicious dog;
(5) A statement that division (F) of Ohio R.C. 955.22 prohibits any person from doing any of the following:
A. Debarking or surgically silencing a dog that the person knows or has reason to believe is a vicious dog;
B. Possessing a vicious dog if the person knows or has reason to believe that the dog has been debarked or surgically silenced;
C. Falsely attesting on a waiver form provided by the veterinarian under division (G) of Ohio R.C. 955.22 that the person’s dog is not a vicious dog or otherwise provide false information on that written waiver form.
(f) It is an affirmative defense to a charge of a violation of division (d) of this section that the veterinarian who is charged with the violation obtained, prior to debarking or surgically silencing the dog, a written waiver form that complies with division (e) of this section and that attests that the dog is not a vicious dog.
(Ord. 12-015. Passed 4-23-12)
(g) (1) If a violation of division (b) of this section involves a dangerous dog, whoever violates that division (b) is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a first offense and of a misdemeanor of the third degree on each subsequent offense. Additionally, the court may order the offender to personally supervise the dangerous dog that the offender owns, keeps, or harbors, to cause that dog to complete dog obedience training, or to do both, and the court may order the offender to obtain liability insurance pursuant to division (c) of this section. The court, in the alternative, may order the dangerous dog to be humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian, the county dog warden, or the county humane society.
(2) If a violation of division (b) of this section involves a vicious dog, whoever violates that division (b) is guilty of one of the following:
A. A felony, to be prosecuted under appropriate State law, on a first or subsequent offense if the dog kills or seriously injures a person. Additionally, the court shall order that the vicious dog be humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian, the county dog warden or the county humane society.
B. A misdemeanor of the first degree on a first offense and a felony, to be prosecuted under appropriate State law, on each subsequent offense. Additionally, the court may order the vicious dog to be humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian, the county dog warden or the county humane society.
C. A misdemeanor of the first degree if the dog causes injury, other than killing or serious injury, to a person.
(h) Whoever violates division (c) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(i) Whoever violates division (d) of this section is guilty of a felony to be prosecuted under appropriate state law. Additionally, the court shall order that the vicious dog be humanely destroyed by as licensed veterinarian, the County Dog Warden, or the County Humane Society.
(ORC 955.99(E) - (H), (J))
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
(1) “Exotic animal” means any animal, reptile, fowl or other such animal whose normal habitat is someplace other than northwest Ohio.
(2) “Owning”, “keeping”, “harboring”, or “person in charge” means any person who feeds and/or shelters, or is in charge of, any animal or who professes ownership of such animal. If a minor owns an animal, then the head of any household of which such minor is a member shall be deemed the owner of such animal under this chapter and shall be responsible as the owner. If not a member of a household, such minor shall be directly subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(3) “Wild animal” means any animal which is predominantly free-roaming, as opposed to domesticated, including, but not limited to, feral cats and feral dogs.
(b) The owning, keeping, or harboring, whether on a temporary or permanent basis, of any wild, dangerous, poisonous, or exotic animal, including, but not limited to the animals listed below, is hereby prohibited within the City limits:
(1) All crotalid, elapid, and venomous colubroid snakes;
(2) Apes: chimpanzees (Pan), gibbons (Hylobates), gorillas (Gorilla), orangutans (Pongo), and siamangs (Symphalangus);
(3) Baboons (Papoi, Mandrillus);
(4) Bears (Ursidae);
(5) Bison (Bison);
(6) Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatas);
(7) Crocodilians (Crocodilia), including all alligators, crocodiles, caimans, and gavials;
(8) Constrictor snakes when eight feet in length or more;
(9) Coyotes (Canis lantrans);
(10) Deer (Cervidae), including all members of the deer family, for example, white-tailed deer, elk, antelope, and moose;
(11) Elephants (Elephas and Loxodonta);
(12) Foxes (Canis vulpes);
(13) Game cocks and other fighting birds;
(14) Hippopotami (Hippopotamidae);
(15) Hyenas (Hyaenidae);
(16) Jaguars (Panthera onca);
(17) Leopards (Panthera pardus);
(18) Lions (Patheraleo);
(19) Lynxes (Lynx);
(20) Marsupials, including opossums, Tasmanian wolf, kangaroos, koalas, and wombats;
(21) Monkeys, old world (Cercopithecidae);
(22) Muskrats (Ondatra);
(23) Ostriches (Struthio);
(24) Porcupine (hystricomorpha);
(25) Piranha fish (Characidae);
(26) Procuonids, including raccoons, coatis, kinkajous, ring-tailed cats, and pandas;
(27) Pumas (Felis concolar), also known as cougars, mountain lions, and panthers;
(28) Rhinoceroses (Rhinocero tidae);
(29) Sharks (class Chondrichthyes);
(30) Skunks (chondrichthyes);
(31) Snow leopards (Panthera uncia);
(32) Swine (Suidae);
(33) Tigers (Panthera tigris);
(34) Water buffalo (Bubalus);
(35) Wart hogs (Phacocherus aethiopicus);
(36) Wolverines (Gulo gulo);
(37) Wolves (Canis lupus);
(38) Wolf hybrids or any hybrid of a domestic dog with a wild canis; and
(39) Woodchucks (Marmota monas).
(c) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a doctor of veterinary medicine licensed by the State of Ohio when it is necessary in the course of professional duty to keep and treat such animal. Licensed commercial pet shops, menageries, circuses, and carnivals shall be exempt from the provisions of division (b) of this section if all of the following conditions are applicable:
(1) The location conforms to the provisions of the city Planning and Zoning Code;
(2) The animals and animal quarters are kept in a clean and sanitary condition and maintained so as to eliminate objectionable odors;
(3) Animals are maintained in quarters so constructed as to prevent their escape; and
(4) No person resides within 100 feet of the quarters in which the animals are kept.
(d) No exemption granted pursuant to any division of this section shall be construed, nor is it intended by the City as a guaranty or warranty of any kind, whether express or implied, to any person, including, without limitation, the general public, persons residing or passing near the applicant's premises, or the applicant, as to the danger of persons residing or passing near the applicant's premises or the applicant, either in general or individually, as to the danger or lack thereof, of degree of risk to health or safety, of any animal, or of any premises where any animal is maintained or kept pursuant to such exemption.
(e) The lack of knowledge of intent is not a defense to a violation of this section.
(f) Whoever violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree and shall be subject to the penalty provided in Section 698.02. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation or noncompliance occurs or continues.
(Ord. 12-014. Passed 4-23-12.)
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