Except as specifically defined herein or where it is plainly evident from the context that a different meaning is intended, all words and phrases in this title shall have their customary dictionary definitions. All words used in the singular shall include the plural and the plural the singular. Each gender shall include the other; and tense shall include all other tenses. The word “shall” is mandatory and the word “may” is permissive.
ANIMAL: | Every nonhuman species of creature, whether domestic, wild, feral, or exotic, including but not limited to the following as defined: |
CAT: | Any domestic cat (Felis Silvestris Catus); |
DOG: | Any male or female dog (Canis Familiaris); |
EXOTIC ANIMAL: | Any animal which is not a domestic household pet or livestock; |
FERAL ANIMAL: | Any animal normally domesticated that has returned to the wild state and has not been accorded game animal status by the Nevada Department of Wildlife or has been protected by the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act and amendments thereto; |
FERRET: | Any domestic ferret (Mustela Furo); |
LIVESTOCK: | All cattle or animals of the bovine species; all horses, mules, burros, and asses or animals of the equine species; all goats or animals of the caprine species; all sheep or animals of the ovine species; all poultry or domesticated fowl or birds; and all alternative livestock; |
SPECIAL CONDITIONS ANIMAL: | Animals that, due to the unique husbandry, handling, recapture, and enclosure requirements, consist of the following: baboons (genus Papaio), chimpanzees (genus Pan), drills and mandrills (genus Mandrillus), gelada baboons (genus Theropithecus), gibbons (genus Hylobates), gorillas (genus Gorilla), macaques (genus Macaca), orangutans (genus Pengo), siamangs (genus Symphalangus), cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosi), cougars, panthers (Puma leo), snow leopards (Pantera unci), tigers (Panthera tigris), African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), dingoes (Ganus dingo), jackals (4 species: Ganus aureus, mesomelas, simensis, adustus), maned wolf (Chysocyon brachyurus), wolves (Ganus lupus, Ganus rufus), wolf hybrids, bears (family Ursidae), elephants (family Eliphantidae), hyenas (family Hyanenidae), wolverines (Gulo gulo), wild hybrids of those listed. |
WILD ANIMAL: | As defined by the United States Department of Agriculture: Any animal which is now or historically has been found in the wild, or in the wild state, within the boundaries of the United States, its territories, or possessions. This term includes, but is not limited to, animals such as: deer, skunk, opossum, raccoon, mink, badger, armadillo, coyote, squirrel, fox, wolf, cougar/mountain lion, and lynx/bobcat. |
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER: | Any person employed or contracted with Lincoln County or Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and responsible for the enforcement of this title and state statutes pertaining to animals. |
ANIMAL CONTROL SUPERVISOR: | The person employed or contracted as the supervisor of animal control for Lincoln County or his or her designee. |
ANIMAL FACILITY: | A place where animals are kept for profit or nonprofit, for selling, breeding, adoption, boarding, short, or long-term care. |
ANIMAL SANCTUARY: | An establishment owned or operated by a licensed profit or nonprofit organization whose primary function is to provide temporary care and comfort to animals. |
ANIMAL SHELTER: | Any facility operated by a humane society, nonprofit organization or municipal agency or its authorized agents, for the purpose of impounding animals under the authority of this chapter or state law for care, confinement, return to owner, adoption, or euthanasia. |
AT LARGE: | Means and includes every instance in which an animal is found to be beyond the custody and control of its owner or other person responsible for the animal. An animal is deemed to be at large when it is found off the premises of its owner or other person responsible for it and not accompanied by a person who has the animal under immediate control by physical restraint or by signal or voice. |
BITE: | A puncture or tear of the skin inflicted by the teeth of an animal. |
BOARD: | Lincoln County Board of County Commissioners. |
COMMERCIAL ANIMAL ESTABLISHMENT: | Means and includes, but is not limited to, pet shop, grooming shop, guard dog training school, auction, riding school or stable, zoological park, circus, performing animal exhibition, or boarding or breeding kennel. |
COMMERCIAL KENNEL: | A place where any number of dogs or cats are boarded and kept for commercial purposes, including breeding, boarding, or training. This term does not include state inspected veterinary hospitals, or the county animal control shelter. |
COUNTY: | Those areas of Lincoln County exclusive of incorporated areas. |
DANGEROUS DOG: | Without provocation, it behaves menacingly, to a degree that would lead a reasonable person to defend himself or herself against substantial bodily harm, when the dog is off the premises of its owner or keeper, or not confined in a cage, pen, or vehicle. |
GROOMING SHOP: | A commercial establishment where animals are bathed, clipped, or otherwise groomed. |
IMMEDIATE DIRECTION AND CONTROL: | Power to immediately restrict or restrain the actions and movement of a dog by the person responsible for the dog. |
MULTIPET PERMIT: | A residential property where a total of eleven (11) dogs and cats or more are kept by the owner for personal pleasure; the animals are not kept for commercial purposes. Dogs trained for search and rescue or service animals shall not be counted toward the number of dogs and cats for purposes of a multi-pet permit. |
OWNER OR OWN: | Any person, firm, corporation, or organization possessing, harboring, keeping or having control, charge, or custody of an animal, or, if the animal is owned by a person under the age of eighteen (18), that person’s parent or guardian. The terms shall not apply to animals owned by others which are temporarily maintained on the premises of a veterinarian or kennel operator for a period of less than thirty (30) days. |
PERSON RESPONSIBLE: | The owner or person who harbors, controls, has custody, or possession of any dog or other animal. |
PET SHOP/PET STORE: | Any person, partnership, or corporation, whether operated separately or in connection with another business enterprise (except for a commercial dog kennel), that buys, sells, or boards any species of animals. A veterinary clinic or hospital is excluded from this provision. |
PUBLIC NUISANCE: | Any animal or animals that unreasonably annoy humans, endanger the life or health of other animals or persons, or substantially interferes with the rights of citizens, other than their owners, to enjoyment of life or property. The term “public nuisance animal” shall mean and include, but is not limited to any animal that: |
a. Is repeatedly (three (3) or more times) found at large; | |
b. Damages the property of anyone other than its owner; | |
c. Molests or intimidates pedestrians or passersby; | |
d. Chases vehicles; | |
e. Excessively makes disturbing noises, including, but not limited to: continued and repeated howling, barking, whining, or other utterances causing unreasonable annoyance, disturbance, or discomfort to neighbors or others in close proximity to the premises where the animal is kept or harbored; | |
f. Causes fouling of the air by odor and thereby creates unreasonable annoyance or discomfort to neighbors or others in close proximity to the premises where the animal is kept or harbored (excludes livestock); | |
g. Causes unsanitary conditions in enclosures or surroundings where the animal is kept or harbored; | |
h. Is offensive or dangerous to the public health, safety, or welfare by virtue of the number and/or types of animals maintained; | |
i. Attacks other domestic animals; or | |
j. Has been found by the County Commissioners, after notice to its owner and a hearing, to be a public nuisance animal by virtue of being a menace to the public health, welfare, or safety. | |
RESTRAINT OR RESTRAINED: | Any animal secured by a leash, cable, cord, chain, or similar device under the control of a responsible person and obedient to that person’s command, or confined within the property limits of its owner or keeper by way of a fence, cage, or other device. |
RIDING SCHOOL OR STABLE: | Any place that has available for hire, boarding and/or riding instruction, any horse, pony, donkey, mule, or burro; or any place that regularly buys, sells, or trains the above animals, including a racetrack, trotting track, or rodeo. |
SECURE PEN: | An enclosure which is covered at top as well as on all sides with the base secured to the ground in a manner that the dog confined cannot exit by digging underneath. The side walls and top of the pen must be made of material sufficiently strong and constructed in such a manner that the confined animal cannot exit. There must be an entry which is secure with a metal latch. The fending material must be a minimum of 9-gauge wire. |
SERVICE ANIMAL: | An animal that has been trained to assist or accommodate a person with a disability. |
SHERIFF: | The chief law enforcement officer of Lincoln County or his or her designee. |
SPECIAL OFFICER: | Any animal control officer, humane officer, fish and game warden, sheriff or deputy sheriff, or other law enforcement or peace offices possessing the powers of a peace officer as provided in Nevada Revised Statutes 289.150. |
STRAY ANIMAL: | Any animal running at large upon public or private lands in the State of Nevada, and whose owner is unknown in the place where the animal is found. |
SUBSTANTIAL BODILY HARM: | Unless the context otherwise requires, substantial bodily harm means, bodily harm which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ; or prolonged physical pain. |
TORTURE OR CRUELTY: | Every act or omission whereby unjustifiable physical pain, suffering or death is caused or permitted to an animal. |
VETERINARIAN: | A graduate doctor of veterinary medicine licensed to practice in the State of Nevada. |
VETERINARY FACILITY (Large and Small Animal): | Any establishment operated by a veterinarian or provides veterinarian services on a contractual basis to provide dental, medical or surgical treatment, boarding, care and grooming for large and small animals. A veterinary hospital may have adjacent to it or in conjunction with it, or as an integral part of it, indoor and outdoor pens, stalls, cages, or kennels for quarantine or observation. |
VETERINARY FACILITY (Small Animals): | Any establishment operated by a veterinarian or provides veterinarian services on a contractual basis to provide dental, medical or surgical treatment, boarding, care and grooming for small animals. A veterinary clinic may have adjacent to it or in conjunction with it, or as an integral part of it, indoor pens, cages, or kennels for quarantine or observation. |
VETERINARY HOSPITAL: | Any establishment maintained and operated either directly or on a contract basis by a licensed veterinarian for surgery, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and injuries of animals. |
VICIOUS ANIMAL: | Any animal, except a trained dog assisting a peace officer engaged in law enforcement duties, which demonstrates one or more of the following behaviors: |
a. An attack, without provocation, which requires defensive action by any person to prevent bodily injury or property damage or which results in an injury to a person or property; | |
b. Any behavior, without provocation, which constitutes a physical threat of bodily harm to a person, where such attack, injury, or behavior occurs in a place where such person is conducting himself peaceably and lawfully; or | |
c. An attack without provocation on another animal which occurs off the property of the owner of the attacking animal. (Ord. 2020-04, 12-21-2020) | |