(a) No owner, keeper or harborer of a dog more than three months of age, and no owner of a dog kennel, shall fail to file an application for registration required by Ohio R.C. 955.01, nor shall he or she fail to pay the legal fee therefore, except for guide, leader or listener dogs, or dogs in training to become guide, leader or listener 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.
(b) No owner of a dog, except a dog constantly confined to a registered kennel, shall fail to require the dog to wear, at all times, a valid tag issued in connection with a certificate of registration. A dog's failure at any time to wear a valid tag shall be prima facie evidence of lack of registration and shall subject such dog to impounding.
(c) No person shall own, keep or harbor a dog wearing a fictitious, altered or invalid registration tag or a registration tag not issued by the County Auditor in connection with the registration of such animal.
(d) No person shall obstruct or interfere with any person lawfully engaged in capturing an unregistered dog or making an examination of a dog wearing a tag.
(e) Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor and shall be subject to the penalty provided in Section 698.02. In addition, if the offender is guilty of a violation of division (a) of this section, such person shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) for a first offense. For each subsequent offense, such person shall be fined not less than seventy-five dollars ($75.00) nor more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) and may be imprisoned for not more than 30 days.
(Ord. 2012-81. Passed 9-19-12.)