(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Dangerous dog" is defined as follows:
A. "Dangerous dog" means a dog that, without provocation, and subject to paragraph (a)(1)(B) of this Section, has done any of the following:
(i) Caused injury, other than killing or serious injury, to any person;
(ii) Killed another dog;
(iii) Been the subject of a third or subsequent violation of division (e) of this Section.
B. "Dangerous dog" does not include a police dog that has caused injury, other than killing or serious injury, to any person or has killed another dog while the police dog is being used to assist one or more law enforcement officers in the performance of their official duties.
(2) "Menacing fashion" means that a dog would cause any person being chased or approached to reasonably believe that the dog will cause physical injury to that person.
(3) "Nuisance Dog"
A. Subject to division (a)(3)(B) of this Section, "nuisance dog" means a dog that without provocation and while off the premises of its owner, keeper, or harborer has chased or approached a person in either a menacing fashion or an apparent attitude of attack or has attempted to bite or otherwise endanger any person.
B. "Nuisance dog" does not include a police dog that while being used to assist one or more law enforcement officers in the performance of official duties has chased or approached a person in either a menacing fashion or an apparent attitude of attack or has attempted to bite or otherwise endanger any person.
(4) "Police dog" means a dog that has been trained, and may be used, to assist one or more law enforcement officers in the performance of their official duties.
(5) "Serious Injury" means any of the following:
A. Any physical harm that carries a substantial risk of death;
B. Any physical harm that involves a permanent incapacity, whether partial or total, or a temporary, substantial incapacity;
C. Any physical harm that involves a permanent disfigurement or a temporary, serious disfigurement; or
D. Any physical harm that involves acute pain of a duration that results in substantial suffering or any degree of prolonged or intractable pain.
(6) "Vicious dog" is defined as follows:
A. "Vicious dog" means a dog that, without provocation, and subject to paragraph (a)(6)(B) of this Section, has killed or caused serious injury to any person.
B. "Vicious dog" does not include either of the following:
(i) A police dog that has killed or caused serious injury to any person while the police dog is being used to assist one or more law enforcement officers in the performance of their official duties; or
(ii) A dog that has killed or caused serious injury to any adult person while that adult person was committing or attempting to commit a criminal trespass or other criminal offense on the property of the owner, keeper or harborer of the dog.
(7) "Without provocation" means that a dog was not teased, tormented or abused by a person, or that the dog was not coming to the aid or the defense of a person who was not engaged in illegal or criminal activity and who was not using the dog as a means of carrying out such activity. (ORC 955.11)
(b) No person, who is the owner of keeper of horses, mules, cattle, bison, sheep, goats, swine, llamas, alpacas, or poultry, shall permit them to run at large in the public road, highway, street, lane, or alley, or upon unenclosed land, or cause the animals to be herded, kept, or detained for the purpose of grazing on premises other than those owned or lawfully occupied by the owner or keeper of the animals. (ORC 951.02)
(c) No owner, keeper or harborer of any female dog shall permit it to go beyond the premises of the owner, keeper or harborer at any time the dog is in heat, unless the dog is properly in leash. (ORC 955.22(B))
(d) Except when a dog is lawfully engaged in hunting and accompanied by the owner, keeper, harborer, or handler of the dog, no owner, keeper, or harborer of any dog shall fail at any time to do either of the following:
(1) Keep the dog physically confined or restrained upon the premises of the owner keeper, or harborer by leash, tether, adequate fence, supervision, or secure enclosure to prevent escape;
(2) Keep the dog under the reasonable control of some person. (ORC 955.22(C))
(e) Except when a dangerous dog is lawfully engaged in hunting or training for the purpose of hunting and is accompanied by the owner, keeper, harborer, or handler of the dog, no owner, keeper, or harborer of a dangerous dog shall fail to do either of the following:
(1) While that dog is on the premises of the owner, keeper, or harborer, securely confine it at all times in a locked pen that has a top, locked fenced yard, or other locked enclosure that has a top;
(2) While that dog is off the premises of the owner, keeper, or harborer, keep that dog on a chain-link leash or tether that is not more than six feet in length and additionally do at least one of the following:
A. Keep that dog in a locked pen that has a top, locked fenced yard, or other locked enclosure that has a top;
B. Have the leash or tether controlled by a person who is of suitable age and discretion or securely attach, tie, or affix the leash or tether to the ground or a stationary object or fixture so that the dog is adequately restrained and station such a person in close enough proximity to that dog so as to prevent it from causing injury to any person;
C. Muzzle that dog. (ORC 955.22(D))
(f) No person who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to three or more violations of division (e) of this Section involving the same dog and no owner, keeper or harborer of a dangerous dog shall fail to do the following:
(1) Obtain liability insurance with an insurer authorized to write liability insurance in this state providing coverage in each occurrence because of damage or bodily injury to or death of a person caused by the dangerous dog if so ordered by a court and provide proof of that liability insurance upon request to any law enforcement officer, county dog warden, or public health official charged with enforcing Section 505.01 of this Code;
(2) Obtain a dangerous dog registration certificate from the county fiscal officer pursuant to Section 955.22(I) of the Ohio Revised Code, affix a tag that identifies the dog as a dangerous dog to the dog's collar, and ensure that the dog wears the collar and tag at all times;
(3) Notify the local dog warden immediately if any of the following occurs:
A. The dog is loose or unconfined.
B. The dog bites a person, unless the dog is on the property of the owner of the dog, and the person who is bitten is unlawfully trespassing or committing a criminal act within the boundaries of that property.
C. The dog attacks another animal while the dog is off the property of the owner of the dog.
(4) If the dog is sold, given to another person, or dies, notify the county fiscal officer within ten (10) days of the sale, transfer, or death. (ORC 955.22(E)
(g) No person shall do any of the following:
(1) Debark or surgically silence a dog that the person knows or has reason to believe is a dangerous dog;
(2) Possess a dangerous dog if the person knows or has reason to believe that the dog has been debarked or surgically silenced;
(3) Falsely attest on a waiver form provided by the veterinarian under division (h) of this Section that the person's dog is not a dangerous dog or otherwise provide false information on that written waiver form. (ORC 955.22(F))
(h) Before a veterinarian debarks or surgically silences a dog, the veterinarian may give the owner of the dog a written waiver form that attests that the dog is not a dangerous dog. The written waiver form shall include all of the following:
(1) The veterinarian's license number and current business address;
(2) The number of the license of the dog if the dog is licensed;
(3) A reasonable description of the age, coloring, and gender of the dog as well as any notable markings on the dog;
(4) The signature of the owner of the dog attesting that the owner's dog is not a dangerous dog;
(5) A statement that division (g) of this Section prohibits any person from doing any of the following:
A. Debarking or surgically silencing a dog that the person knows or has reason to believe is a dangerous dog;
B. Possessing a dangerous dog if the person knows or has reason to believe that the dog has been debarked or surgically silenced;
C. Falsely attesting on a waiver form provided by the veterinarian under division (g) of this Section that the person's dog is not a dangerous dog or otherwise provide false information on that written waiver form. (ORC 955.22(G))
(i) It is an affirmative defense to a charge of a violation of division (g) of this Section that the veterinarian who is charged with the violation obtained, prior to debarking or surgically silencing the dog, a written waiver form that complies with division (h) of this Section and that attests that the dog is not a dangerous dog. (ORC 955.22(H))
(j) The county shall issue a dangerous dog registration certification in accordance with section 955.222(I) of the Ohio Revised Code. (ORC 955.22(I))
(k) Whoever violates division (b) of this Section hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(ORC 951.99)
(l) Whoever violates any of the provisions of division (c) of this Section hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(ORC 955.99(E)
(m) Whoever violates any of the provisions of division (d) of this Section hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. In addition, if the offender is guilty of a violation of division (d) of this Section, the court may order the offender to personally supervise the dog that he or she owns, keeps or harbors, to cause that dog to complete dog obedience training, or to do both.
(ORC 955.99(E) and (F))
(n) In addition to the penalties described in division (m) of this Section, any person who has been convicted of or pled guilty to a third violation of division (d) hereof involving the same dog shall be required to register the dog as a dangerous dog.
(ORC 955.99(F))
(o) Whoever commits a violation of division (d) of this Section hereof involving a dangerous dog or a violation of division (e) of this Section hereof is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. Additionally, the court may order the offender to personally supervise the dangerous dog that the offender owns, keeps, or harbors, to cause that dog to complete dog obedience training, or do both, and the court may order the offender to obtain liability insurance pursuant to division (f) of this Section. In the alternative, the court may order the dangerous dog to be humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian, the county dog warden, or the county humane society at the owner's expense. With respect to a violation of division (d) hereof that involves a dangerous dog, until the court makes a final determination and during the pendency of any appeal of a violation of that division and at the discretion of the dog warden, the dog shall be confined or restrained in accordance with division (e) of this Section. (ORC 955.99(G)).
(p) Whoever commits a violation of division (d) of this Section that involves a vicious dog is guilty of one of the following:
(1) A felony of the fourth degree under section 955.99 of the Ohio Revised Code if the dog kills a person. Additionally, the court shall order that the vicious dog be humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian, the county dog warden, or the county humane society at the owner's expense.
(2) A misdemeanor of the first degree if the dog causes serious injury to a person. Additionally, the court may order the vicious dog to be humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian, the county dog warden, or the county humane society at the owner's expense. (ORC 955.99(H))
(q) If the court does not order the vicious dog to be destroyed under division (p)(2) hereof, the court shall issue an order that specifies that division (D) of section 955.11 and divisions (e) to (j) of this Section apply with respect to the dog and the owner, keeper, or harborer of the dog as if the dog were a dangerous dog and that section 955.54 of the Ohio Revised Code applies with respect to the dog as if it were a dangerous dog. As part of the order, the court shall order the offender to obtain the liability insurance under division (f) of this Section in an amount, exclusive of interest and costs, that equals or exceeds one hundred thousand dollars. Until the court makes a final determination and during the pendency of any appeal of a violation of division (d) of this Section and at the discretion of the dog warden, the dog shall be confined or restrained in accordance with the provisions described in division (e) hereof. (ORC 955.99(H))
(r) Whoever violates division (g)(1), (2), or (3) hereof is guilty of a felony of the fourth degree under section 955.99 of the Ohio Revised Code. Additionally, the court shall order that the dog involved in the violation be humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian, the county dog warden, or the county humane society. Until the court makes a final determination and during the pendency of any appeal of a violation of division (g)(1), (2), or (3) hereof and at the discretion of the dog warden, the dog shall be confined or restrained in accordance with the provisions of division (e) hereof. (ORC 955.99(L))
(s) Whoever violates division (f)(1), (3), or (4) hereof is guilty of a first degree misdemeanor.
(ORC 955.99(M))
(t) Whoever violates division (I)(4) of section 955.22 of the Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 955.99(N))
(u) Whoever violates division (A) or (B) of section 955.54 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(Ord. 2018-28. Passed 7-11-18.)