505.08 FAILURE TO CONTROL.
(a) No owner or person in charge or control of a dog, or owner or person in charge of a premises on which a dog is located, shall fail to control a dog within the Municipality.
(b) For the purposes of this section, each of the following constitutes an instance of failure to control:
(1) A dog which unreasonably and without provocation causes any unreasonable annoyance, alarm or a noise disturbance to any person or neighborhood by barking, whining, screeching, howling, or other like sounds which may be heard beyond the boundary of the owner's property;
(2) A dog which scratches or digs in, or defecates upon, any lawn, tree, shrub, plant, or any other public or private property, other than the property of the dog's owner or the property of a person in charge or control of the dog, unless the owner or person in control of the dog takes immediate action to repair any damage or remove any waste;
(3) A dog which otherwise causes damages to any public or private property other than the property of a person in charge or control of the dog;
(4) A dog, without provocation, while at large, has chased or approached a person in a menacing fashion or has attempted to bite or otherwise endangers a person or animal; or
(5) A dog, without provocation, that bites or otherwise inflicts injury to a person or that bites or otherwise inflicts serious injury or has killed another dog or animal.
(6) A dog, without provocation, has killed or caused serious injury to any person.
(c) Whoever violates subsection (a) resulting from an instance under subsection (b)(1-3) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on the first offense and a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a second and third offense. On the third offense the dog shall be considered a nuisance dog.
(d) Whoever violates subsection (a) resulting from an instance under subsection (b)(4) of this section shall be considered a nuisance dog and is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a first offense and a misdemeanor of the second degree on a second and subsequent offenses.
(e) Whoever violates subsection (a) resulting from an instance under subsection (b)(5) of this section shall be considered a dangerous dog and is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(f) Whoever violates subsection (a) resulting from an instance under subsection (b)(6) of this section shall be considered a vicious dog and is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degrees if a serious injury results and felony of the fourth degree if a dog, without provocation kills any person and shall be prosecuted under appropriate State law. (ORC 955.99(H)(1)(a)).
(g) In addition to the penalties provided herein, and any other rights provided by law, in any civil action to recover damages against the owner of any dog who has violated subsection (b)(5) or (6) above, the injured party may recover three times the amount of the actual economic damages, as economic loss may be defined in Ohio R.C. 2315.18(A)(2).
(Ord. 2023-04. Passed 5-15-23.)