As used in this chapter, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(a) “Abandonment” means leaving an animal unattended for more than 24 hours, releasing the animal upon public highways or public or private lands, or failure to provide proper or adequate food, water, exercise, shelter or medical care.
(b) “Animal” means a mammal, bird, fish, reptile, ferret, snake, turtle, horse, mollusk, crustacean, or any other vertebrate other than a human being.
(c) “Animal control officer” means any person employed by member cities for the purpose of enforcing this chapter or State statutes pertaining to animals, and all persons and deputies employed to act in the same or a similar manner.
(d) “Animal control shelter” means a facility designated or recognized by the Downriver Central Animal Control Agency, County or State of Michigan for the purpose of impounding and/or caring for animals, including a contract service provider, such as a local animal protection shelter, which may include a humane society.
(e) “At large” means, except when hunting, an animal which is not on the premises of the owner and not under the control of a person either by leash, cord, chain, or otherwise.
(f) “Chief Animal Control Officer” means the person employed by the member cities for the purpose of enforcing this chapter or State statutes pertaining to animals who is responsible for the supervision of the animal control officers/employees and maintaining all required records.
(g) “Continuous barking” means barking, howling, or yelping for a period of time in which disturbs the peace and quiet of the neighborhood.
(h) “Cruelty” means, any act, omission, or neglect whereby unjust able physical pain, suffering, or death of an animal is caused or permitted.
(i) “Curbside sale” means any attempt to sell, barter, trade or adopt any companion animal on a public or private street, parking lot or location.
(h) “Dangerous animal” means any animal, which bites or attacks a person or an animal but does not include the following:
(1) An animal that bites or attacks a person or animal that is trespassing on the property of the animal’s owner; or
(2) An animal that bites or attacks a person or animal as a result of being provoked, tormented, tortured, or receiving cruel treatment by that person or animal; or
(3) An animal that is responding in a manner that an ordinary and reasonable person would conclude was designed to protect a person if that person is engaged in lawful activity or is the subject of an assault or battery, or to protect itself or another animal;
(i) “Dog” means any member of the species “CanisFamiliaries.”
(j) “Domesticated companion animal” means an animal that has traditionally, through a long association with humans, lived in a state of dependence upon humans or has been traditionally kept as a household pet, including but not limited to: dogs, cats, hamsters, gerbils, ferrets, mice, rabbits, parakeets, parrots, cockatiels, cockatoos, canaries, love birds, finches and tropical fish.
(k) “Enclosure” means secure confinement indoors or secure confinement in a locked pen, a structure with secure sides, top and bottom, or a yard which is suitable to prevent the entry of young children, and is designed to prevent the dog from escaping from the owner’s property.
(l) “Fence” means a structure of wire, wood, stone or other materials, including invisible fencing, which is of sufficient height and strength to act as a barrier against the passage of the animal it is intended to enclose.
(1) A fence does not include an “invisible fence” if the fence is:
A. Turned off or the animal is not wearing a properly operating signaling device;
B. Ineffective for any animal that has learned it can cross the fence line;
C. Intended to be a means of keeping people or animals out of an enclosed area; or
D. Buried in or adjacent to the City right-of-way.
(2) An invisible fence is not an acceptable means of control for an animal that is classified as vicious, dangerous, potentially dangerous, or is in estrus/heat.
(m) “Hunting” means allowing a dog to range freely within the sight or sound of its owner while in the course of pursuing legal game.
(n) “Kennel” means any establishment, except a pet shop, animal protection shelter, or licensed pound, where animals are kept for sale, boarding, breeding, training, or sporting purposes for remuneration.
(o) “Member cities” means Allen Park, Southgate, and Wyandotte.
(p) “Neglect” means failure to comply with the minimum requirements for animal care set forth in this chapter.
(q) “Owner” means any adult person who owns or resides on the property where the animal lives, every person having a right of property in the animal, an authorized agent of the person having a right, every person who has an apparent authority to have a right of property in the animal, every person who keeps or harbors the animal or has it in his care, custody or control.
(r) “Person” means any adult individual, corporation, society, co-partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, or any other entity.
(s) “Provoke” means to perform an act or omission that an ordinary and reasonable person would conclude is likely to precipitate a bite or attack by an animal.
(t) “Quarantine” means a state of enforced isolation. To detain in or exclude by quarantine, to isolate from normal relations or communication. An animal that has bitten shall be kept in quarantine at the animal shelter or can be approved for home quarantine, per the decision of the animal control officer or his or her designee.
(u) “Rabid suspected animal” means any animal which shows symptoms suggestive of rabies.
(v) “Serious injury” means permanent, serious disfigurement, serious impairment of health, or serious impairment of a bodily function of a person. Any dog bite requiring stitches to the victim (person or animal) is prima facie evidence of a serious injury.
(w) “Shelter” means adequate protection from the elements and weather conditions suitable for the age, species, and physical condition of the animal so as to maintain the animal in a state of good health. Shelter, for livestock, includes structures or natural features such as trees or topography. Shelter, for a dog, includes one or more of the following:
(1) The residence of the dog’s owner or other individual.
(2) A doghouse that is an enclosed structure with a roof and of appropriate dimensions for the breed and size of the dog. The doghouse shall have dry bedding when the outdoor temperature is or is predicted to drop below freezing.
(3) A structure, including a garage, barn, or shed, that is sufficiently insulated and ventilated to protect the dog from exposure to extreme temperatures or, if not sufficiently insulated and ventilated, contains a doghouse as provided under subsection (w)(2) above that is accessible to the dog.
(x) “Suitable leash” means both (1) that the dog is attached to a leash that is not more than ten feet in length (provided the dog has not been determined to be “potentially dangerous”) and of such material that the leash is capable of restraining, and does restrain the type and size of dog to which it is attached; and (2) that such a leash is continuously held by a person who is reasonably able to and does restrain and prohibit the dog from being out of the person’s physical control. A leashed dog that chases a person or domesticated animal a greater distance than ten feet, or that bites a person or domesticated animal constitutes prima facie evidence that such dog is not kept on a suitable leash.
(y) “Torment” means an act or omission that causes unjustifiable pain, suffering, and distress to a dog, or causes mental and emotional anguish in the dog as evidenced by its altered behavior, for a purpose such as sadistic pleasure, coercion, or punishment that an ordinary and reasonable person would conclude is likely to precipitate the bite or attack.
(Ord. 955. Passed 9-5-12; Ord. 14-967. Passed 7-2-14.)