(A) Filing of opinion; impoundment. Whenever any dog is, in the written opinion of the police chief or his/her designee, vicious, dangerous, potentially dangerous or likely to bite or injure any person, and is kept in such manner as to constitute an apparent menace to any person, the dog must be immediately impounded by the Animal Services Coordinator.
(B) Notice of impoundment. The Animal Services Coordinator must provide written notice to the owner/custodian of the specific behavior of the animal alleged in the petition and the date upon which, a hearing will be held to consider the petition. The hearing must be held within the time limits set forth by the Cal. Food & Agric. Code § 31621.
(1) The notice must advise the owner/custodian of the consequences of a finding of potentially dangerous or vicious. Where the owner/custodian's address of any animal is unknown, notice of the hearing must be given by posting the same in the Police Department and by publication in a newspaper of general circulation. Notice must then be deemed given on publication of notice.
(C) Hearing; procedures. A hearing on whether a dog is declared potentially dangerous or vicious must be conducted in the following manner:
(1) If the Police Chief or hisor her designee has investigated and determined that probable cause exists to believe that a dog is potentially dangerous or vicious, a hearing must be conducted. The Police Chief or his or her designee must prepare a petition specifying the basis as to why the dog is potentially dangerous or vicious.
(2) Whenever possible, any complaint received from a member of the public which serves as the evidentiary basis for the Police Chief to find probable cause, must be sworn to and verified by the complainant and must be attached to the petition.
(3) The Police Chief or his or her designee as hearing officer must conduct a hearing on whether a dog must be declared potentially dangerous or vicious.
(4) The hearing must be open to the public and the hearing officer may admit into evidence all relevant evidence, and exercise the full scope of authority set forth in Cal. Food & Agric. Code § 31621.
(5) A hearing may be continued if the hearing officer deems it necessary and proper or upon a showing of good cause.
(6) If the owner/guardian fails to appear at the hearing, the hearing will nevertheless proceed and an appropriate order must be issued.
(7) The hearing officer must consider all relevant responsible evidence without regard to the formal rules of evidence, including circumstances of mitigation, and the record of any prior violations by the owner/guardian.
(8) The hearing officer must issue a written determination based upon a preponderance of the evidence, which must be mailed to the owner/guardian within seven days after the hearing is completed.
(9) The hearing officer's decision is final. There is no right to a city council appeal.
(D) Designation of animal. If an animal is found to be potentially dangerous or vicious by a preponderance of the evidence, the animal must be so designated on the records of the Animal Services Coordinator. Such a designation must be considered in future determinations involving the animal and/or owner/custodian.
(E) Micro-chipping before release. If at the conclusion of the hearing the Police Chief determines that the dog will be released, the dog must have a micro-chip imbedded subcutaneously in accordance with industry standards before being released to the owner. The micro chipping will be at the owner's expense.
(F) Surrender of dangerous dog. Any dog declared after a hearing to be dangerous, if not already impounded by the Police Department, must be immediately surrendered to the Police Department.
(G) Waiver. The owner of a dog for which a potentially dangerous petition has been issued may irrevocably waive rights to a hearing and any further appeal under Cal. Food & Agric. Code § 31622 and accept all conditions, sanctions and penalties set forth in Cal. Food & Agric. Code §§ 31641, 31642 and 61643. The police chief or his/her designee will mail a waiver form to the dog owner/custodian. The waiver must be signed by the dog owner/custodian and received by the police chief within 30 days from the date of agreement to waive or a hearing will be scheduled within 30 days of the agreement to waive.
(H) Additional fees.
(1) In accordance with Cal. Food & Agric. Code § 31641, the owner/custodian of a potentially dangerous dog must in addition to the regular licensing fee, pay to the city an annual fee as may be established by city council resolution for the increased costs of maintaining the records of the dog.
(2) The owner/custodian of a dog determined to be vicious must, in addition to the regular licensing fee, pay to the city an annual fee as may be established by separate city council resolution to provide for the increased costs of maintaining the records of the dog.
(I) Registration of animal. The owner/custodian of a vicious dog must, within ten days of such determination, upon request by the city must present said animal to the Animal Services Coordinator and allow photographs and measurements of the animal to be taken for purposes of identification.
(J) Undesignation of animal.
(1) The owner/custodian of a dog found potentially dangerous, who has no additional violations of any of the provisions of this title, within a 36-month period from the date of designation as potentially dangerous, must be removed from the list of potentially dangerous dogs by the Police Chief. The dog may be, but is not required to be, removed from the list of potentially dangerous dogs before the expiration of the 36-month period if the owner/custodian of the dog demonstrates to the Police Chief that changes in circumstances or measures taken by the owner/custodian, such as training of the dog has mitigated the risk to public safety.
(2) The owner/custodian of a dog found vicious, who has no additional violations of any of the provisions of this title, after a 36-month period from the date of designation as vicious, may apply to the police chief to remove the animal from the list of vicious animals. The Police Chief has the discretion to remove the animal from the list of vicious animals upon proof of the successful completion of at least eight weeks of formal obedience training, other similar evidence of training, or other rehabilitative efforts designed to mitigate the risk to public safety.
(Ord. 1224, passed 2-16-10)