For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ANIMAL CONTROL AUTHORITY. An agency of the state, county, municipality or other governmental subdivision of the state which is responsible for animal control operations in its jurisdiction.
ANIMAL ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. The designated law enforcement personnel charged by the city with enforcement of this chapter.
ANIMAL SHELTER. Any premises designated by the City Council or the SLMPD for the purpose of impounding and caring for animals held under the authority of this chapter.
ANIMAL WASTE DEVICE. A device for sanitary removal of animal feces.
AT LARGE. An animal is at large when it is off the premises of the person, firm, corporation, organization, or department possessing, harboring, keeping, having an interest in, or having care, custody, or control of the animal, and the animal is not under restraint.
BARKING. The phrase "to bark excessively, continuously, or untimely" includes, but is not limited to, barking, whining, howling, baying, crying, or making other noise excessively, such that the creation of the noise by any single or combination of dogs can be heard by any person, including a law enforcement officer or animal control officer, from a location outside of the building or premises where the dog is being kept and which noise occurs repeatedly over at least a five minute period of time with one minute or less lapse of time between each animal noise during the five minute period. UNTIMELY includes, but is not limited to, the noise which occurs repeatedly over a two-minute period of time with one-minute or less lapse of time between each animal noise during the two-minute period, between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
BODILY HARM. Physical pain or injury, illness, or any impairment of physical condition.
CITY. The City of Shorewood.
COMMERCIAL BREEDER. A person or business that owns, keeps, congregates, or confines animals for breeding and sales.
COMMERCIAL KENNEL. A place where any number of dogs are kept, congregated or confined while providing veterinary care and indoor boarding.
DANGEROUS ANIMAL. An animal, including dangerous dogs as defined in M.S. § 347.50, as amended, which has:
a. Without provocation, inflicted substantial bodily harm on a human being on public or private property;
b. Killed a domestic animal without provocation while off the owner's property; or
c. Been found to be potentially dangerous, and after the owner has received notice that the animal is potentially dangerous, the animal aggressively bites, attacks, or endangers the safety of humans or domestic animals.
DEALER. A public or private agency, person, society, or corporation that sells or transfers dogs or cats to corporations, institutions or to other dealers who sell or transfer to corporations or institutions.
DOMESTICATED (DOMESTIC) ANIMAL. Such animals as dogs, cats, caged birds, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, domesticated rabbits, fish, non-poisonous, non-venomous and non-constricting reptiles or amphibians, and other similar domesticated animals.
GREAT BODILY HARM. Bodily injury which creates a high probability of death, or which causes serious permanent disfigurement, or which causes a permanent or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ or other serious bodily harm.
NON-DOMESTICATED (NON-DOMESTIC) ANIMAL. Animals which are naturally wild and not naturally trained or domesticated, or which are inherently dangerous to the health, safety, and welfare of people. Unless otherwise defined, such animals shall include:
a. Any member of the cat family (family felidae) including lions, tigers, cougars, bobcats, leopards and jaguars, but excluding commonly accepted domesticated house cats;
b. Any naturally wild member of the canine family (family canidae) including wolves, foxes, coyotes, dingoes, and jackals, but excluding commonly accepted domesticated dogs;
c. Any member or relative of the rodent family including any skunk (whether or not de-scented), raccoon, or squirrel, but excluding those members otherwise defined or commonly accepted as domesticated pets;
d. Any poisonous, venomous, constricting, or inherently dangerous member of the reptile or amphibian families including rattlesnakes, boa constrictors, pit vipers, crocodiles and alligators; and
e. Any other animal which is not explicitly listed above but which can be reasonably defined by the terms of this division, including but not limited to bears, deer, monkeys and other species non-indigenous to Minnesota.
f. Any animal defined as livestock by Minnesota Department of Agriculture rule 1515.3100.
OWNER. Any person, firm, corporation, organization, or department possessing, harboring, keeping, having an interest in, or having care, custody, or control of an animal.
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ANIMAL. Any animal, including a potentially dangerous dog as defined in M.S. § 347.50, as amended, that:
a. When unprovoked, inflicts bites on a human or domestic animal on public or private property;
b. When unprovoked, chases or approaches a person, including a person on a bicycle, upon the streets, sidewalks, or any public or private property, other than the animal owner's property, in an apparent attitude of attack;
c. Has a known propensity, tendency, or disposition to attack unprovoked, causing injury or otherwise threatening the safety of humans or domestic animals; or
d. Has been declared a potentially dangerous dog or potentially dangerous animal by any lawful authority of this or any other state or subdivision thereof.
PREMISES. A building, structure, shelter, or land where a dog or other domesticated or non-domesticated animal is kept or confined, and specifically excludes all public rights-of-way, sidewalks, and streets.
PROPER ENCLOSURE. Securely confined indoors or in a securely enclosed and locked pen or structure suitable to prevent the animal from escaping and providing protection from the elements for the animal. A proper enclosure does not include a porch, patio, or any part of a house, garage, or other structure that would allow the animal to exit of its own volition, or any house or structure in which windows are open or in which door or window screens are the only obstacles that prevent the animal from exiting.
PROVOCATION. An act that an adult could reasonably expect may cause an animal to attack or bite. With regard to an animal other than a dog, provocation also means an act that an adult could reasonably expect may cause an animal of that species to attack or bite.
PUBLIC NUISANCE - ANIMAL. Any animal that habitually worries, chases or molests persons traveling peaceably on a public road or off the premises of its owner, or violates a prohibition of this ordinance, is a public nuisance. It shall be considered a nuisance for any animal to bark excessively, continuously or untimely, to frequent school grounds, parks, or public beaches, to chase vehicles, to chase, molest, annoy or bite any person if the person is not on the property of the owner or custodian of the animal, to molest, defile or destroy any property, public or private, or to defecate in or upon public property or the property of another without being cleaned up immediately by the person in charge of the animal. The person having custody of the animal is responsible for disposing of the animal feces in a sanitary manner. Failure on the part of the owner or custodian to prevent his or her animals from committing an act of nuisance shall subject the owner or custodian to the penalty hereinafter provided.
RESTRAINT. An animal is considered to be under restraint, provided that:
a. It is on the premises of the person, firm, corporation, organization, or department possessing, harboring, keeping, having an interest in, or having care, custody, or control of the animal;
b. It is in a private motor vehicle or camper, with secured windows and doors, of a person, firm, corporation, organization, or department possessing, harboring, keeping, having an interest in, or having care, custody, or control of the animal; or
c. In all other locations, other than animals in a designated "off-leash" park, it is on a secure leash of no longer than six feet in length.
SLMPD. The South Lake Minnetonka Police Department.
SUBSTANTIAL BODILY HARM. Bodily injury which involves a temporary but substantial disfigurement, or which causes a temporary but substantial loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ, or which causes a fracture of any bodily member.
(Ord. 504, passed 10-28-2013; Am. Ord. 584, passed 10-25-2021)