(A) Wild animals prohibited. No person shall harbor, maintain or control a wild, dangerous or undomesticated animal within the city, except as hereinafter provided.
(B) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
VICIOUS ANIMALS. Any animal which has previously attacked or bitten any person or which has behaved in such a manner that a person who harbors said animal knows or should reasonably know that the animal is possessed of tendencies to attack or bite persons.
WILD, DANGEROUS OR UNDOMESTICATED ANIMAL. That which is not of a species customarily used as an ordinary household pet, but one which would ordinarily be found in the wilderness of this or any other country, or one which otherwise causes a reasonable person to be fearful of bodily harm or property damage. Fish in an aquarium are not considered in this definition. This definition of said animals shall include, but not be limited to:
(a) All poisonous animals including rear-fang snakes;
(b) Alligators and crocodiles, 30 inches in length or more;
(c) Apes (chimpanzees, gibbons, gorillas, orangutans and siamangs);
(d) Baboons;
(e) Bears;
(f) Bison;
(g) Cheetahs;
(h) Constrictor snakes;
(i) Coyotes;
(j) Deer;
(k) Gamecocks and other fighting birds;
(l) Hippopotami;
(m) Hyenas;
(n) Jaguars;
(o) Leopards;
(p) Lions;
(q) Lynxes;
(r) Monkeys;
(s) Ostriches;
(t) Piranha fish;
(u) Pumas, also known as cougars, mountain lions and panthers;
(v) Rhinoceroses;
(w) Sharks;
(x) Snow leopards;
(y) Tigers; and
(z) Wolves.
(C) Exceptions. The provisions of division (A) and (B) above shall not apply to retail establishments, zoological gardens, circuses and zoos; if:
(1) The animals’ location conforms to the provisions of the zoning regulations of the city;
(2) All animals and animal quarters are kept in a clean and sanitary condition and so maintained so to eliminate objectionable odors;
(3) Animals are maintained in quarters so constructed as to prevent their escape; and
(4) No person lives or resides within 100 feet of the quarters in which the animals are kept.
(D) Vicious animals.
(1) VICIOUS ANIMAL means:
(a) Any animal which has attacked a human being or domestic animal one or more times without provocation;
(b) Any animal with a history, tendency or disposition to attack, to cause injury or to otherwise endanger the safety of human beings or domestic animals;
(c) Any animal that has been trained for fighting or is owned or kept for such purposes; or
(d) Any animal trained to attack human beings, upon command or spontaneously, in response to human activities, except dogs owned by or under the control of the Police Department, a law enforcement agency of the state or the United States, or of a branch of the armed forces of the United States.
(2) Any
VICIOUS ANIMAL, as defined herein, found at large in the city, may be seized by any police officer or humane officer and, upon establishment to the satisfaction of the magistrate of the vicious character of said animal, it may be killed by a police officer or licensed veterinarian.
(3) If a vicious animal is so dangerous that it cannot be safely apprehended, it may be immediately destroyed by any police officer or humane officer.
(Prior Code, § 6-4-9) (Ord. 323, passed 9-16-1985; Ord. 364, passed 8-15-1988; Ord. 672, passed 8-18-2008) Penalty, see § 10.99