(a) Violation Notices. The Director of Public Safety shall investigate any alleged violation of this Chapter on his own initiative or upon the complaint of any person. If, after investigation, there is probable cause to believe that there is a violation of this chapter, then the Director of Public Safety may send a violation notice to the offender, as described in subsection (b) hereof. Enforcement of this Chapter by means of violation notice is in addition to and not in lieu of any other means of enforcement provided for in these Codified Ordinances including, without limitation, Section 507.99
.
(b) Form of Notice. Any violation notice sent under subsection (a) hereof shall be in writing, and shall specify the action that is required of the violator, and the time frame for compliance. The Director shall limit the time for compliance to five (5) days unless he determines that there is good cause to specify a longer period. The notice shall require the offender to come into compliance with all provisions of this chapter, to dispose of the animal in accordance with Section 507.17
, or to safely remove the exotic animal from the City.
(c) Seizing and Impounding. If the owner, keeper or possessor of an exotic animal fails to comply with a violation notice sent pursuant to subsection (b) hereof, the Director of Public Safety shall forthwith cause the exotic animal to be seized and impounded. In addition, without the necessity of advance notice, the Director shall cause the seizure and impoundment of any exotic animal that has previously caused serious physical harm to any person or in any instance in which the exotic animal has escaped or is at large.
If an animal being seized or impounded under this Section poses a risk of serious physical harm or death to any person, the City Administrator or other person authorized by the Director of Public Safety may render the exotic animal immobile by means of tranquilizers or other safe drugs, or if that is not possible, the animal may be euthanized.
(d) Costs. All reasonable costs incurred by the Director of Public Safety in seizing, impounding or confining any exotic animal pursuant to subsection (c) hereof shall be charged against the owner, keeper or possessor of the animal and shall be collected by the City Administrator.