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It shall be unlawful to keep animals within the corporate limits of Lawrence in numbers and under conditions of confinement or otherwise so that the resulting odors, noise, appearance of the premises or unsanitary conditions resulting thereof cause an unsightly and deteriorating appearance of the premises or result in an offensive odor or condition detrimental to the comfort and safety of those living in the neighborhood.
(A) For the purpose of this chapter, the following definition shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
CRUELTY. Any or all of the following kinds of treatment accorded to any living animal found within the corporate limits of the City of Lawrence:
(a) Any poisoning, trapping or killing of an animal shall be unlawful, provided that this section shall not be construed to prevent any person from using reasonable methods of trapping, killing or poisoning rats or other vermin or any other wild animal found to be injuring or destroying the owner’s or resident’s property or from utilizing live traps pursuant to § 3-3-1-22;
(b) To overdrive, overwork or work any animal when it is unfit for labor or sport;
(c) To abuse or allow to be abused any animal by beating it unreasonably, unnecessarily or to commit other inhumane acts of willful and knowing abuse on the body of an animal by burning, castrating, maiming, shooting, mutilating or otherwise disfiguring the animal;
(d) To deprive or neglect to perform any act necessary to the well-being and sustenance of the animal, failure of which causes or permits unnecessary pain and suffering to the animal. The necessary acts are minimally construed to mean that each owner or custodian of any animal shall have a duty of care to provide basic and adequate amounts of food, water, shelter and protection from weather and to avoid overcrowding of animals in confined spaces; and/or
(e) To abandon any animal within the corporate limits of the city.
(B) Notwithstanding the penalties provided in § 3-3-1-27, the penalty for violation of this section shall be a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $2,500.
It shall be unlawful for a person to sell, offer for sale, trade, barter or give away in the city any live animal, bird or reptile as a novelty, prize for or as an inducement to enter place of amusement, or offer such a vertebrate as an incentive to enter any business establishment or enter any business agreement whereby the offer was made for the purpose of attracting trade or business, other than establishments selling animals as their primary business.
Every owner or keeper of an animal kept in the city shall see that the animal:
(A) Is kept in a clean, sanitary and healthy manner and is not confined so as to be forced to stand, sit or lie in its own excrement; the person(s) responsible for animal(s) shall regularly, and as often as necessary to prevent odor or health and sanitation problems, maintain all animal areas or areas of animal contact;
(B) Has food that is appropriate for the species in adequate amounts to maintain good health, fresh potable drinking water where appropriate, shelter and ventilation, including quarters that are protected from excessive heat and cold and are sufficient size to permit the animal to exercise and move about freely;
(C) Shall not be tethered by use of a choke collar, or on any collar too small for the size and age of the animal, nor by any rope, chain or cord directly attached to the animal’s neck, nor by a leash less than 12 feet in length, or of an unreasonable weight so as to prevent the animal from moving about freely;
(D) Is protected against abuse, cruelty, neglect, torment, overload, overwork or any other mistreatment;
(E) Shall receive reasonably necessary medical care, in addition to the required rabies vaccination, which shall include recommended vaccinations as required by accepted veterinary proper care, and is segregated from other animals so as to prevent transmittal of the disease; and
(F) Is maintained in compliance with all applicable federal, state and local laws.
It shall be unlawful for a person to incite, train to fight (other than crime prevention dog) or set any animal to fighting another animal or incite combat between animals and humans in the city.
(A) It shall be unlawful to leave a domestic animal unattended in a vehicle when the conditions in that vehicle would constitute a health hazard to the animal.
(B) It shall be unlawful for any dog or cat to ride in the bed of a pickup truck on public streets, highways and/or rights-of-way unless the animal is securely caged and protected from the environment or unless the bed of the pickup truck is enclosed with a camper shell or other device and there is appropriate and sufficient ventilation.
(A) It shall be unlawful for a person, not so authorized, to enter or invade the private premises of another person in the city to capture, entice or take any animal out of the enclosure or premises of the owner, or to seize an animal at any place while the animal is accompanied by its owner or keeper.
(B) It shall be unlawful for a person, not so authorized, to entice any animal away from the premises of the person who owns or keeps the animal in the city, or to entice an animal from a street, alley or public place in the City with the intent to deprive the owner of the animal’s possession.
(A) The Animal Control Officer is hereby authorized to acquire and maintain live traps for the purpose of the unharmed capture of wild animals in an emergency situation and domestic animals running at large within the City.
(B) The traps shall be constructed so as to allow for the capture of wild and domestic animals without injuring or otherwise harming the animal.
(C) The setting of live traps is generally prohibited during the months of December, January and February when weather conditions may make trapping an animal inhumane. During these months, any resident or animal removal company which intends to capture a domestic or wild animal by means of a trap must contact Animal Control prior to setting any such trap.
(D) If a resident of the City of Lawrence has captured a domestic animal on the resident’s property, Animal Control will pick up the domestic animal upon the resident’s request. If a resident has captured a wild animal, Animal Control will not pick up the animal, and the resident must contact a private wildlife removal company instead.
(E) A resident who has trapped a domestic animal must notify Animal Control within 12 hours of trapping an animal in order to prevent the caging of an animal that is deprived of food or water or exposed to the elements for an extended period of time.
(Am. Ord. 5, 2011, passed 5-2-2011) Penalty, see § 3-3-1-27
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