(A) No person shall own, keep, or harbor a vicious dog within the town.
(1) For purposes of this section, a dog may be declared vicious by the town if the following facts or criteria are met:
(a) Two or more credible complaints are received from two or more neighbors, not within the same household, regarding the dog's viciousness and this dog's viciousness is verified by an Animal Control Officer.
(b) The dog, while running-at-large, has bitten a person and the bite and attack was unprovoked or that the dog exhibits vicious propensities in present or past conduct including, but not limited to conduct such that the dog:
1. Has bitten a person on one occasion without provocation; or
2. Did bite or attack once without evidence of provocation causing wounds or injuries amounting to serious bodily injury to a person as defined in Title 35 of the Indiana Code; or
3. Could not be controlled or restrained at the time of the bite or attack to prevent the occurrence; and
(c) Any dog whose possession would be unlawful (as a fighting animal) pursuant to I.C. 35-46-3-8 shall be deemed a vicious dog. Any dog which, while running-at-large and without evidence of provocation, kills or seriously injures a domestic pet or livestock may be found to be a vicious dog.
(2) That in order to preserve the public health, safety, and welfare of the community the destruction of a dog is necessary whenever a dog is declared vicious under the provisions of this chapter. Either the town or Animal Control Director shall notify the owner of the dog of the declaration. Such notice shall be served either in person or by certified or registered mail. The dog, if not already held in quarantine at the Animal Control Center shall be surrendered to the Director within ten days of receipt of such notification. The owner must appeal the declaration to the town or the Director or the dog will be humanely destroyed by the Center at any time during the ten-day period. Any vicious dog whose ownership is unknown after three days of custody at the Center or a surrogate location may then be humanely destroyed.
(3) Any decision of the Director under the provisions of these sections may be appealed to the Animal Control Board, which shall hear evidence and render a decision in this matter. Such appeal by the owner to the Board shall be filed with the Center within nine days after receipt of notification from the Center that the dog shall be destroyed. The disposition of the dog shall be stayed during the appeal process. The decision of the Animal Control Board shall be final and binding upon the County and upon the appellant. The Board shall review the information provided by both the town or Director and the owner of the dog and render a decision to the effect that:
(a) The dog is not vicious; or
(b) The dog is vicious and should be destroyed.
(c) The owner of any dog which is impounded and destroyed under this section shall be held responsible for payment of any expenses incurred by the Center for the impoundment and destruction, and failure to pay such a fee to the Center within fifteen days after destruction of such dog shall constitute a violation of this section
(d) In determining such appeals, either the town or the President of the Animal Control Board shall appoint three members to hear and decide the matter by simple majority vote without submission of their decision to the whole Board. Any such panel of three Board members may convene a hearing or other session with a quorum of two members.
(4) This section shall not apply to a dog under the control of a law enforcement or military agency.
(5) This paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the use of guard dogs and security dogs for civilian purposes, even though such dogs may display an aggressive character in keeping with their protective duties. However, such dogs shall be subject to the viciousness standard of division (A)(1) above.
(B) Pursuant to I.C. 15-5-7-1 and 15-5-7-2:
(1) If a dog kills or injures any livestock while the livestock is in the care, custody and control of the livestock owner or his or her agent, the owner or harborer of the dog is liable to the owner of the livestock for all damages sustained, including his or her reasonable attorney's fees and the court costs; if the appropriate dog tax has not been paid on the dog, triple damages may be awarded; and
(2) Anyone may, with the consent of the person in possession of real estate on which a dog is found, kill the dog if he has observed the dog in the act of killing or injuring livestock.
(Ord. 99, passed 8-20-2002)