Ownership of an aggressive dog, as defined herein, is prohibited, except under the conditions set forth below.
(A) A dog owner or one who harbors a dog, as defined herein, is guilty of ownership of an aggressive dog if he or she owns or harbors a dog which engages in any of the following conduct within the town:
(1) The dog approaches any person or persons, without provocation, in a menacing and threatening manner, whether or not an attack by the dog upon the person or persons actually occurred;
(2) The dog, in an attacking, menacing or threatening manner encroaches over, through or under a fence onto public property or the private property of another; or
(3) The dog inflicts a dog bite, or a puncture wound, abrasion or other wound caused by the aggressive dog’s teeth, upon a person or a domestic animal in which the injury does not meet the definition of bodily injury or serious bodily injury.
(B) Upon conviction of owning an aggressive dog, and upon consideration of all relevant factors, including the known past history of the aggressive dog, the Municipal Court Judge, in addition to considering all other penalties available under this chapter, shall have the following additional options:
(1) To order, when the dog is leashed, the owner may not use an extension style leash or leash the dog to any permanent inanimate object. Rather the dog shall be in a secure fenced area or be on a short leash under the constant supervision and surveillance of the owner;
(2) The owner shall successfully complete a court approved animal obedience training, behavior modification, pet management class and/or any other treatment program that the Court may deem to be appropriate. The owner shall bear the entire cost of all programs, classes or training;
(3) The owner shall, at the owner’s expense, have the animal spayed or neutered and shall provide written proof from a licensed veterinarian to the town’s Police Department that the sterilization has been performed;
(4) To order, within ten days of the conviction, to obtain and present to the town’s 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 aggressive 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 removal of the aggressive dog from the town.
(C) It shall be an affirmative defense to the charge of ownership of an aggressive dog, if the aggressive dog while confined to the aggressive dog owner’s property, is aggressive to a person or domestic animal that is on the aggressive dog owner’s property for the purpose of committing a criminal offense against the aggressive dog’s owner, the aggressive dog owner’s property or if the aggressive dog, while on the aggressive dog owner’s property, is tormented, provoked, abused or inflicted injury upon, in such a manner as to result in the dog being made aggressive.
(Prior Code, § 531.4) (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