All dogs in this county which are licensed, and all dogs under four months of age, whether licensed or not, shall be deemed personal property and may be the subject of larceny and malicious or unlawful trespass, and the owners thereof may maintain any action for the killing of any such dogs, or injury thereto, or unlawful detention or use thereof as in the case of other personal property. It shall be unlawful for any person except the owner or his or her authorized agent to administer poison to any such dog or to expose poison where it may be taken by any such dog, or to injure, disfigure, disable, or kill any dog except as otherwise provided in this ordinance. The owner of any dog which is injured or killed contrary to the provisions of this ordinance by any person shall be entitled to recover the value thereof or the damage done thereto in an appropriate action at law from such person. A Dog Warden or other officer finding a stolen dog, or a dog held or detained contrary to law, shall have authority to seize and hold such dog pending action before the county or other court. If no such action is instituted within five days the Dog Warden or other officer shall deliver the dog to its owner. The presence of a dog on the premises of a person other than its legal owner shall raise no presumption of theft against the owner of such premises, but it shall be his or her duty to notify the Dog Warden and the Dog Warden shall take such dog in charge and notify its legal owner to remove him or her. The legal owner of the dog shall pay a reasonable charge for the keep of such dog while in the possession of the Dog Warden.
(Ord. passed 5-10-1962)