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(a) No person being the owner of or having charge of any cat, shall allow such cat to be off their premises without a leash which keeps such cat under control.
(b) Any person having charge of any dog or cat while away from their premises shall have on their person the appropriate container to hold dog or cat feces.
(c) No person shall dispose of dog or cat feces on any property other than the property of the owner or person in charge of the animal.
(d) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(Ord. 176-02. Passed 10-21-02.)
(a) A police officer or animal warden may impound every animal or dog found in violation of Section 505.02 and 505.03. If the impounded dog is not wearing a valid registration tag, the dog shall forth with be turned over to an officer charged by law with the custody and disposal of such dogs. If the dog is wearing a valid registration tag or the identity of the owner or harborer is otherwise established, notice shall immediately be given to such owner or harborer that the dog has been impounded. Notice may be by telephone or by ordinary mail to the last known address of such owner or harborer. The dog shall not be released except upon the payment of reasonable expenses for its taking and keeping. Any dog not redeemed within three days of the time it is seized or impounded may be sold or otherwise disposed of as provided by Ohio R.C. 955.16.
(b) The dog shall not be released to the owner or harborer until proof of rabies vaccination is furnished.
(c) A record of all dogs impounded, the disposition of the same, the owner's name and address, if known, and a statement of any costs or receipts involving such dog shall be kept.
(Ord. 176-02. Passed 10-21-02.)
(a) Except for guide dogs registered under Ohio R.C. 955.011 and dogs kept by an institution or organization for teaching and research purposes under Ohio R.C. 955.16, no person shall own, keep or harbor a dog more than three months of age without annually registering such dog with the County Auditor or his designated agent. Failure of any dog at any time to wear a valid registration tag shall be prima-facie evidence of lack of registration and subject such dog to impounding and disposition as provided by Ohio R.C. 955.16.
(b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(Ord. 176-02. Passed 10-21-02.)
(a) No owner or keeper of a dog, cat or other domestic animal shall abandon such animal. (ORC 959.01)
(b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree on a first offense and a misdemeanor of the first degree on each subsequent offense.
(ORC 959.99)
(a) No person shall maliciously, or willfully, and without the consent of the owner, kill or injure a farm animal, dog, cat or other domestic animal that is the property of another. This section does not apply to a licensed veterinarian acting in an official capacity, or to trespassing animals as set forth in Ohio R.C. 959.04.
(b) Except as otherwise provided herein, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree. If the value of the animal killed or the injury done amounts to three hundred dollars ($300.00) or more, such person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. (Ord. 176-02. Passed 10-21-02.)
(a) No person shall maliciously, or willfully and without the consent of the owner, administer poison, except a licensed veterinarian acting in such capacity, to a farm animal, dog, cat, poultry or other domestic animal that is the property of another; and no person shall, willfully and without the consent of the owner, place any poisoned food where it may be easily found and eaten by any of such animals, either upon his own lands or the lands of another. This section does not apply to trespassing animals as set forth in Ohio R.C. 959.04.
(b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(Ord. 176-02. Passed 10-21-02.)
(a) No person shall torture an animal, deprive one of necessary sustenance, unnecessarily or cruelly beat, needlessly mutilate or kill, or impound or confine an animal without supplying it during such confinement with a sufficient quantity of good, wholesome food and water.
(b) No person shall impound or confine an animal without affording it, during such confinement, access to shelter from wind, rain, snow or excessive, direct sunlight if it can reasonably be expected that the animal would otherwise become sick or in some other way suffer. This subsection (b) does not apply to animals impounded or confined prior to slaughter. For the purpose of this section, “shelter” means a manmade enclosure, windbreak, sunshade or natural windbreak or sunshade that is developed from the earth's contour, tree development or vegetation.
(c) No person shall carry or convey an animal in a cruel or inhuman manner.
(d) No person shall keep animals other than cattle, poultry or fowl, swine, sheep or goats in an enclosure without wholesome exercise and change of air.
(e) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.
(Ord. 176-02. Passed 10-21-02.)
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Companion animal" means any animal that is kept inside a residential dwelling and any dog or cat regardless of where it is kept. "Companion animal" does not include livestock or any wild animal.
(2) "Cruelty", "torment" and "torture" have the same meanings as in Ohio R.C. 1717.01.
(3) "Residential dwelling" means a structure or shelter or the portion of a structure or shelter that is used by one or more humans for the purpose of a habitation.
(4) "Practice of veterinary medicine" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 4741.01.
(5) "Wild animal" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 1531.01.
(6) "Federal animal welfare act" means the "Laboratory Animal Act of 1966", Pub. L. No. 89-544, 80 Stat. 350 (1966), 7 U.S.C.A. 2131 et seq., as amended by the "Animal Welfare Act of 1970", Pub. L. No. 91-579, 84 Stat. 1560 (1970), the "Animal Welfare Act Amendments of 1976", Pub. L. No. 94-279, 90 Stat. 417 (1976), and the "Food Security Act of 1985", Pub. L. No. 99-198, 99 Stat. 1354 (1985), and as it may be subsequently amended.
(7) "Dog kennel" means an animal rescue for dogs that is registered under Ohio R.C. 956.06, a boarding kennel or a training kennel.
(b) No person shall knowingly torture, torment, needlessly mutilate or maim, cruelly beat, poison, needlessly kill, or commit an act of cruelty against a companion animal.
(c) No person who confines or who is the custodian or caretaker of a companion animal shall negligently do any of the following:
(1) Commit any act by which unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering is caused, permitted or allowed to continue, when there is a reasonable remedy or relief, against the companion animal;
(2) Omit any act of care, including veterinarian care, by which unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering is caused, permitted or allowed to continue, when there is a reasonable remedy or relief, against the companion animal;
(3) Commit any act of neglect by which unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering is caused, permitted or allowed to continue, when there is a reasonable remedy or relief, against the companion animal;
(4) Needlessly kill the companion animal;
(5) Deprive the companion animal of necessary sustenance, confine the companion animal without supplying it during the confinement with sufficient quantities of good, wholesome food and water, or impound or confine the companion animal without affording it, during the impoundment or confinement, with access to shelter from heat, cold, wind, rain, snow, or excessive direct sunlight, if it can reasonably be expected that the companion animal would become sick or suffer in any other way as a result of or due to the deprivation, confinement, or impoundment in any of those specified manners.
(d) No owner, manager, or employee of a dog kennel who confines or is the custodian or caretaker of a companion animal shall negligently do any of the following:
(1) Commit any act by which unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering is caused, permitted or allowed to continue, when there is a reasonable remedy or relief, against the companion animal;
(2) Omit any act of care by which unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering is caused, permitted, or allowed to continue, when there is a reasonable relief, against the companion animal;
(3) Commit any act of neglect by which unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering is caused, permitted or allowed to continue, when there is a reasonable remedy or relief, against the companion animal;
(4) Needlessly kill the companion animal;
(5) Deprive the companion animal of necessary sustenance, confine the companion animal without supplying it during the confinement with sufficient quantities of good, wholesome food and water, or impound or confine the companion animal without affording it, during the impoundment or confinement, with access to shelter from heat, cold, wind, rain, snow or excessive direct sunlight if it can reasonably be expected that the companion animal would become sick or suffer in any other way as a result of or due to the deprivation, confinement, or impoundment or confinement in any of those specified manners.
(e) Subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this section do not apply to any of the following:
(1) A companion animal used in scientific research conducted by an institution in accordance with the federal animal welfare act and related regulations;
(2) The lawful practice of veterinary medicine by a person who has been issued a license, temporary permit, or registration certificate to do so under Ohio R.C. Chapter 4741;
(3) Dogs being used or intended for use for hunting or field trial purposes, provided that the dogs are being treated in accordance with usual and commonly accepted practices for the care of hunting dogs;
(4) The use of common training devices, if the companion animal is being treated in accordance with usual and commonly accepted practices for the training of animals;
(5) The administering of medicine to a companion animal that was properly prescribed by a person who has been issued a license, temporary permit, or registration certificate under Ohio R.C. Chapter 4741. (ORC 959.131)
(f) Notwithstanding any section of the Ohio Revised Code that otherwise provides for the distribution of fine moneys, the Clerk of Court shall forward all fines the Clerk collects that are so imposed for any violation of this section to the Treasurer of the municipality, whose county humane society or law enforcement agency is to be paid the fine money as determined under this section. The Treasurer shall pay the fine moneys to the county humane society or the county, township, municipal corporation, or state law enforcement agency in this state that primarily was responsible for or involved in the investigation and prosecution of the violation. If a county humane society receives any fine moneys under this section, the county humane society shall use the fine moneys either to provide the training that is required for humane society agents under Ohio R.C. 1717.061 or to provide additional training for humane society agents.
(ORC 959.131)
(g) (1) Whoever violates subsection (b) hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree on a first offense. On each subsequent offense such person is guilty of a felony and shall be prosecuted under appropriate State law.
(2) Whoever violates subsection (c) hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree on a first offense and a misdemeanor of the first degree on each subsequent offense.
(3) Whoever violates subsection (d) hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(4) A. A court may order a person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of this section to forfeit to an impounding agency, as defined in Ohio R.C. 959.132, any or all of the companion animals in that person's ownership or care. The court also may prohibit or place limitations on the person's ability to own or care for any companion animals for a specified or indefinite period of time.
B. A court may order a person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of this section to reimburse an impounding agency for the reasonably necessary costs incurred by the agency for the care of a companion animal that the agency impounded as a result of the investigation or prosecution of the violation, provided that the costs were not otherwise paid under Ohio R.C. 959.132.
(5) If a court has reason to believe that a person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of this section suffers from a mental or emotional disorder that contributed to the violation, the court may impose as a community control sanction or as a condition of probation a requirement that the offender undergo psychological evaluation or counseling. The court shall order the offender to pay the costs of the evaluation or counseling.
(Ord. 65-16. Passed 7-15-16.)
(a) "Tether" means a rope, chain, cord or pulley, or similar restraint for holding an animal in place, allowing a radius in which it can move about.
(b) Tethering an animal within the following circumstances is strictly prohibited:
(1) For a total of more than ten (10) hours within a twenty-four (24) hour period;
(2) Between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.;
(3) If a heat or cold advisory or a severe weather warning by the National Weather Service for the City of Lorain or area including same has been issued by the national weather service for the area in which the animal is kept or harbored;
(4) If the tether is less than five (5) times the dog's length or less than fifteen feet in length;
(5) If the tether allows the animal beyond its owner's property line or traverse residence boundary lines, public property, or right of way;
(6) If the tether is attached by means of a pinch, prong or choke type collar, or if the collar is otherwise unsafe or improperly fitted or may otherwise cause injury or entanglement of the animal;
(7) If the animal is not provided with a sanitary environment, free from an accumulation of feces and all provisions of Chapter 505 of the Lorain Codified Ordinances, including but not limited to sufficient quantities of good, wholesome food, potable water and appropriate shelter from the elements;
(8) If the tether is made of a material that is unsuitable for the animal's size and weight or that causes any unnecessary discomfort to the animal; is not tethered with a lead that exceeds one-eighth (1/8) of the dog's body weight, or is a tow chain or log chain or similar apparatus;
(c) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor for the first offense, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on the second offense and a misdemeanor of the first degree on the third or any subsequent offense.
(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing penalties, if an animal is injured as a result of a violation of this section, whoever violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(Ord. 63-16. Passed 6-20-16.)
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