The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this section, shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them below:
(a) "Animal review official" means the animal control officer. If the animal control officer is not available, the Chief of Police shall designate the official to conduct the investigations under this section.
(b) "Authorized enforcement officer" means a police officer or animal control officer.
(c) "City" means the City of Lincoln Park.
(d) "Dangerous dog" means a dog that bites or attacks a person and/or causes a serious injury to a person or domestic animal, or a dog that bites or attacks and causes serious injury or death to another dog or domestic animal while the other dog or domestic animal is on the property or under the control of its owner. However, a dangerous dog does not include any of the following:
(1) A dog that bites or attacks a person or domestic animal that is knowingly trespassing on the property of the dog's owner;
(2) A dog that bites or attacks a person who provokes or torments the dog;
(3) A dog that is responding in a manner that an ordinary and reasonable person would conclude was designed to protect a person if that person is engaged in a lawful activity or is the subject of an assault; or
(4) A dog that is protecting it's puppies from harm, torment or danger by a person or other animal.
(e) "Enclosure" means secure confinement indoors or if the dog is to be confined outdoors, the dog shall be in a structure with secure sides. The structure shall be constructed of chain link materials and shall be designed so as to prevent any escape of the animal or entry of young children and must have a secure bottom or floor attached to the sides of the pen or the structure and be embedded in the ground no less than two feet. With the structure and top attached to the sides, top and bottom. In addition, the size and location of the structure shall comply with the provisions of the zoning ordinance of the City including lot coverage and setback requirements, applicable to accessory structures.
The structure shall be kept locked with a padlock or key lock at all times that the potentially dangerous and/or dangerous dog is kept inside the structure. The owner shall keep the structure adequately lit and in clean and sanitary condition. If the potentially dangerous and/or dangerous dog is to be confined indoors, the animal shall not be kept on a porch or patio or in any other part of the house or structure that would allow the dog to exit of its own volition.
In addition, no such animal may be kept in a house or structure when the windows are open or when screen windows or screen doors are the only obstacles preventing the dog from exiting.
(f) "Leash" means minimum tensile strength of 300 pounds and not exceeding four feet in length.
(g) "License compliance required" means no person shall own, keep or harbor any dog in the City unless such person has complied with the laws of the State and the provisions of Chapter 610, Section 610.08.
(h) "Limitation on number of dogs permitted" means no person shall keep or house more than two dogs, provided however when a female dog has a litter, the litter may stay with the mother until the dogs are three months old.
(i) "Owner" means any person eighteen years or older, a firm, corporation or organization that owns, possesses, harbors, keeps, or has an interest in, or has control or custody of the dog.
(j) "Potentially dangerous dog" means a dog that poses a threat to public safety as demonstrated by any of the following behaviors:
(1) Causing an injury to a person or domestic animal that is less severe than a serious injury;
(2) Without provocation, chasing or menacing a person or domestic animal in an aggressive manner; or
(3) Running at large and picked up or impounded by an animal control agency three or more times within any twelve-month period.
(k) "Provoke" and "provocation" means to perform a willful act or omission that an ordinary and reasonable person would conclude is likely to precipitate the bite or attack by an ordinary dog.
(l) "Serious injury" means permanent, serious disfigurement, serious impairment of health, or serious impairment of a bodily function of a person or domestic animal. Any dog bite requiring stitches to the victim (person or animal) is prima facie evidence of a serious injury.
(m) "Suitable leash" means both that the dog is attached to a leash with a minimal 300 pounds of tensile strength that is not more than ten feet in length (provided the dog has not been determined to be "potentially dangerous") and of such material that the leash is capable of restraining, and does restrain the type and size of dog to which it is attached; and that such a leash is continuously held by a person eighteen years or older who is reasonably able to and does restrain and prohibit the dog from being out of the person's physical control. A leashed dog that chases a person or domesticated animal a greater distance than ten feet, or that bites a person or domesticated animal constitutes prima facie evidence that such dog is not kept on a suitable leash.
(n) "Torment" means an act or omission that causes unjustifiable pain, suffering, and distress to a dog, or causes mental, emotional or physical anguish in the dog as evidenced by its altered behavior, for a purpose such as sadistic pleasure, coercion, or punishment that an ordinary and reasonable person would conclude is likely to precipitate the bite or attack.
(Res. 2011-92A. Passed 5-2-11.)