(a) The Animal Control Officer shall be appointed by the Chief of Police and shall serve at the Chief’s pleasure.
(b) It shall be the duty of the Animal Control Officer, and he/she shall have the authority, to enforce the laws of the State of Ohio and the City of Middleburg Heights relative to the licensing, impounding, boarding, treatment and disposition of animals, livestock or poultry within the corporate limits; however, no police or other officer of this City, charged with the responsibility of enforcing the ordinances of this City and the laws of this state, shall be relieved of such responsibility.
(c) The Animal Control Officer shall be provided with a badge designating his/her office, and such other uniform, vehicles and equipment necessary to carry out his/her duties. The Animal Control Officer is authorized to issue, on a form provided by the City, a citation to any person found by him/her to be in violation of the Codified Ordinances of the City, containing a notice to answer the charge against him/her in the Berea Municipal Court or Middleburg Heights Mayor’s Court within a reasonable length of time after the alleged violation. The Animal Control Officer shall cause the original of the notice to be filed with the Court, a duplicate copy to be filed with the record section of the Police Department, and shall retain a duplicate copy in a file maintained by him/her. The citation shall include pertinent information and shall be sworn to as required by the general laws of the state in respect to a complaint charging commission of the offense alleged in the citation to have been committed.
(Ord. 1978-84. Passed 9-26-78; Ord. 2024-41. Passed 5-14-24.)