(A) A dog owner, as defined herein, is deemed to have ownership of a dangerous dog if such person or entity owns, possesses, harbors, keeps, has a financial or property interest in or has custody or control over a dangerous dog.
(B) Upon conviction of owning a dangerous dog, and upon consideration of all relevant factors, including the known past history of the dangerous dog, the Municipal Court Judge, in addition to considering all other penalties available under this subchapter, shall have the following additional options:
(1) To order the convicted owner to make restitution to any person who suffers injury whether such injury be to the person, property or domestic animal of the injured person. Restitution shall be equal to the greater of the fair market value or the replacement cost of the domestic animal on the date the animal was injured or destroyed, plus any reasonable and necessary medical expenses incurred in the treating of the person or the animal and any actual costs incurred in replacing the injured or destroyed animal or other personal property;
(2) To order the owner of a dangerous dog who has been convicted of a violation of this section to confine such dangerous dog in a building or enclosure designed to be escape proof and, whenever such dog is outside of such building or enclosure, keep the dog under such owner’s control by use of a leash or a muzzle as the Court may direct;
(3) (a) To order in the event of bodily or serious bodily injury or death to a person or domestic animal, or in the event of a second or subsequent violation of this section, the dangerous dog to be immediately confiscated and placed in a public animal shelter and, upon exhaustion of any right an owner has to appeal a conviction based on a violation of this section, to require the dangerous dog to be destroyed by lethal injection administered by a licensed veterinarian;
(b) The owner, in such event, shall be responsible for the costs incurred by the town in the confiscation, impoundment and veterinary treatment of the dangerous dog, as well as any other costs associated with the enforcement of this code and the Court’s orders;
(4) To order, within ten days of the conviction, to obtain and present to the Chief of Police written proof that the owner has procured a homeowner’s or renter’s liability insurance policy, or a rider to an existing policy, in the minimum amount of $100,000 to specifically cover any future damage or injury that may be caused by the subject dangerous dog during the period of court ordered supervision, such supervision to be no less than one year from the date of conviction. During the period of supervision, the owner shall provide written proof on a quarterly basis of the necessary coverage; and
(5) To order the immediate removal of the dangerous dog from the town.
(C) It shall be an affirmative defense to the charge of owning a dangerous dog if the dangerous dog, while confined to the dangerous dog owner’s property, injures a domestic animal which was at large as defined by § 90.002(A) of this chapter or injures a person who is on the dangerous dog owner’s property for the purpose of attempting or committing a criminal offense against the dangerous dog’s owner or the dangerous dog owner’s property, or if the injured person while on the dangerous dog owner’s property tormented, provoked, abused or inflicted injury upon the dog in such an extreme manner as to result in the dog attack.
(Prior Code, § 531.3) (Ord. 398, passed 6-6-1996; Ord. 473, passed 6-6-2002; Ord. 520, passed 9-6-2007; Ord. 576, passed 7-10-2014; Ord. 580, passed 2-5-2015) Penalty, see § 90.999