(a) No person shall own, harbor or keep a wild or dangerous or undomesticated animal within the City.
(b) “Wild or dangerous or undomesticated animal” means an animal whose natural habitat is the wilderness and which, when maintained in human society, is usually confined to a zoological park and which:
(1) Is a venomous snake or is a snake that is a constrictor; or
(2) Is an omnivorous or carnivorous animal that weighs more than twenty-five pounds and which is a predator in its natural habitat; or
(3) Is an animal which, by reason of its size, strength, or appetite, would, if unrestrained and free in the City, cause peril to persons, household pets, buildings, landscape or shrubbery; or
(4) Includes, but is not limited to the following: lion, tiger, lynx, mountain lion, jaguar, cheetah, leopard, panther, bear, wolverine, elk, moose, caribou, elephant, giraffe, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, wolf, wild ox, boar, crocodile, alligator, caiman or gavial.
(c) This section shall not apply to the keeping of such animals in a bonafide veterinary hospital for emergency treatment.
(d) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree for a first offense. For a second offense within one year after the first offense, such person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(e) In addition to the penalty provided for in subsection (d) hereof, upon a determination by the Court that any animal defined is a serious threat to the health and safety of the community, the Court may order the owner or person in possession of such animal to forthwith remove such animal from the City. No person shall fail to comply with such order. If such animal is not so removed in compliance with such order, the Court may order the Chief of Police to cause such animal to be impounded or destroyed.
(Ord. 1995-150. Passed 11-16-95.)