(A) A person commits animal cruelty under this section when he or she:
(1) Willfully or maliciously kills, abuses, maims, tortures or disfigures any animal or willfully or maliciously administers poison to any animal or exposes any poisonous substance with the intent that the poisonous substance shall be taken and swallowed by such animal;
(2) Overloads, overworks, torments or intentionally deprives an animal of its necessary food, water or shelter resulting in preventable suffering or death;
(3) Beats, mutilates, uses for the purposes of bait as defined in this chapter, or causes said actions to occur; or
(4) Engages in any of the following:
(a) Owns, possesses, keeps or trains any animal with the intent that such animal shall be engaged in an exhibition of fighting;
(b) Builds, makes, maintains or keeps a pit on premises owned or occupied by the animal owner or allows a pit to be built, made, maintained or kept on said premises for the purposes of an exhibition of animal fighting;
(c) Encourages, instigates, promotes or assists in an exhibition of animal fighting or intentional combat; or
(d) Charges admission; is an assistant, umpire or participant; or is present as a spectator to any exhibition of animal fighting or combat.
(B) A person who owns or confines any animal and fails to supply it with adequate shelter, food, water, space or veterinary care, as defined in this chapter, with such acts committed without malicious or punitive intent commits animal neglect under this section.
(C) A person who abandons an animal in a residence or other owned property or tethers an animal outside for the purposes of abandonment at a residence, place of business, or the Humane Society for Hamilton County commits animal abandonment under this section.
(D) Any animal control officer or other officer empowered to act by law may impound any animal found to be the victim of animal cruelty, animal neglect or animal abandonment.
(E) Nothing in the section shall be deemed to prohibit the humane slaughter of livestock or poultry in conformance with all applicable rules and regulations of the State Board of Health and the United States Food and Drug Administration.
(F) Nothing in this section shall prohibit hunting or fishing, as permitted by the law of the state and the rules and regulations of the State Department of Natural Resources.
(G) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the use of commercially sold poisons for the control of rats, mice, groundhogs, moles or other similar rodents as long as the person using the poisons uses reasonable care to ensure that neither domestic animals nor livestock are exposed to the poisons.
(Prior Code, § 10-5) (Ord. 21-32, passed 7-12-2021) Penalty, see § 90.99