(a) Violation. An owner must not:
(1) Allow an animal other than an altered cat to be at large. An animal that is participating in a qualified activity is not at large unless the animal leaves the activity.
(2) Allow an animal to damage or defecate on property outside the owner’s property. An animal may defecate on public property or the common area of property in which the owner shares an interest if the owner immediately removes and disposes of the feces by a sanitary method approved by the Office. This paragraph does not affect any right of a common ownership community to regulate or ban animals from the community’s property.
(3) Allow an animal to enter private property without the property owner's permission. The property owner may capture the trespassing animal humanely and promptly notify animal control or other appropriate law enforcement authorities, or humanely transport the animal to an animal shelter.
(4) Allow a female dog or cat in heat to be outside a building or other secure enclosure that prevents attraction of other animals.
(5) Allow an animal to cause an unsanitary, dangerous, or offensive condition because of the size or number of animals in a single location or because a facility is not appropriate for the animal or properly maintained.
(6) Allow an animal to cause noise that is loud and persistent enough to disturb another person's quiet enjoyment.
(7) Allow a dog to be on public school grounds on a day when school is in session, or in a public recreation area during an organized activity, unless the dog is controlled by a leash or similar restraining device. This paragraph does not apply to a dog participating in a qualified activity if the agency controlling the school or area gave permission to the owner of the dog or the sponsor of the qualified activity.
(8) Allow a domestic or exotic bird, including a homing pigeon, to be in an aviary within 100 feet of any structure owned or leased by another person and used for human habitation or work. This paragraph does not apply to a bird:
(A) other than a homing pigeon, inside the owner's dwelling;
(B) in a pet shop;
(C) in an Agricultural or Rural Residential zone as defined in Chapter 59; or
(D) in a market for less than 24 hours for sale for human consumption.
(9) Refuse or fail to obtain a license for a dog, cat, or ferret as required by State law or this Chapter.
(10) Allow an animal to act in any other way that the Executive Director, the Board, or an animal control officer finds would cause any other public nuisance established by regulation. An action prohibited by the regulation is a violation even if the action does not qualify as a public nuisance because the owner has not received notice described in subsection (b)(1).
(11) sell, trade, or give a domesticated animal to another person at a place open to the public, except a business licensed to sell animals under Section 5-404.
(b) Public nuisance. An owner must not allow an animal to create a public nuisance by:
(1) behavior described in subsections (a)(1), (2), (3), (4), (6), (8), (9), or (10) occurring after the owner received notice from the County in any form (such as an oral warning from an Office employee) of a violation because of the same behavior; or
(2) any behavior described in subsections (a)(5) or (7).
(c) An owner must prevent the owner’s animal from having unwanted contact with a person or another domesticated animal at all times. (1999 L.M.C., ch. 10 § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 2, § 1; 2005 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1; 2020 L.M.C., ch. 18, §1.)
Editor’s note—Section 5-203 is cited in Coroneos v. Montgomery County, 161 Md. App. 411, 869 A.2d 410 (2005).