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HomeMy Public PortalAboutOrdinance 382ORDINANCE NO. 382 AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE LICENSING OF ALL DOGS WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF BEAUMONT; PROHIBITING DOGS FROM RUNNING AT LARGE WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF BEAUMONT; AUTHOR- IZING THE IMPOUNDING AND DESTRUCTION OF DOGS; PROVIDING A PENALTY; AND REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT THEREWITH The City Council of the City of Beaumont, California, does ordain as follows; SECTION 1. Definitions. As used in this ordinance, unless the context otherwise indicates; (a) "Dog" shall be intended to !Wean both male and female. (b) "Owner" shall be intended to mean any person or persons, firm, association or corporation owning, keeping, or harboring a dog. (c) "At large" shall be intended to mean off the premises of the owner, and not under the control of the owner or a member of his immediate family either by leash, cord, chain or otherwise. (d) "Kennel." Any lots, buildings, structures, enclosures, or places whereon or wherein four (4) or more dogs are kept or maintained for the purpose of breeding, training, raising for market or boarding. (e) "Impounded." Having been received into the custody of any Poundmaster. (f) "Poundmaster." The person charged by this Ordinance with the administration and enforcement of the provisions hereof, and whose employment is provided for herein or otherwise by the City of Beaumont, together with such deputies as may be allowed to the Poundmaster by the City Council of the City of Beaumont. SECTION 2. (a) License and Registration Required. All dogs kept, harbored, or maintained by their owners in the City of Beaumont shall be licensed and registered if over three (3) months of age. Dog licenses shall be issued by the City Clerk upon payment of a license tax of $2.00 for each male or spayed female, and $4.00 for each unspayed female. The owner shall state at the time application is made for such license and upon printed forms provided for such purpose his name and address, and the name, breed, color and sex of each dog owned or kept by him. The provisions of this section shall not be intended to apply to dogs whose owners are nonresidents temporarily within the city, nor to dogs brought into the city for the purpose of participating in any dog show, nor to "seeing -eye" dogs properly trained to assist blind persons when such dogs are actually being used by blind persons for the purpose of aiding them in going from place to place. (b) Tag and Collar. Upon payment of the license fee, the Clerk shall issue to the owner a license certificate and a metallic tag for each dog so licensed. The shape of the tag shall be changed every year and shall have stamped thereon the year for which it was issued and the number corresponding with the number on the certificate. Every owner shall be required to provide each dog with a collar to which the license tag must be affixed, and shall see that the collar and tag are constantly worn. In case a dog tag is lost or destroyed, a duplicate will be issued by the Clerk upon presentation of a receipt showing the payment of the license fee for the current year, and the payment of a fifty (50) cent fee for such duplicate. Dog tags shall not be transferable from one dog to another and no refunds shall be made on any dog license fee because of death of the dog or the owner's leaving the city before expiration of the license period. (c) Kennels. Any person, firm, or corporation, owning, conducting, managing, or operating any dog kennel, except kennels kept for veterinary care, in the incorporated city, shall pay for the privilege of maintaining, conducting or operating such kennel, in lieu of the individual dog license tax provided for hereinabove, a license tax on such kennel as follows: For any such kennel containing four (4) or more dogs, the sum of $24.00 per year; provided, however, that upon removal of any dog from any licensed kennel by sale or other transfer of ownership other than a transfer to another kennel, such dog shall thereupon become subject to the provisions of sub -section (a) of this section, and any kennel tax theretofore paid upon such dog shall be of no further force or effect. SECTION 3. Poundmaster and Assistants. (a) Upon such terms and conditions as the City Council may deem appropriate, the City may designate a dog poundmaster whose duties shall be as follows: (1) To make a report to the City Council on or before the tenth day of each calendar month, or on demand, of the number of tags issued, the amount of license taxes collected, and of all other moneys collected by him under the rrrovisions of this Ordinance, as well as the number of dogs impounded, destroyed, or otherwise disposed of during the preceding calendar month. (2) To receive, take up, and impound any and all dogs found ~unning at large, contrary to the provisions of this Ordinance, or in violation of any law of the County of Riverside or the State of California. (3) To regularly and adequately feed, water, and otherwise care for all dogs impounded under the provisions of this Ordinance. (4) To investigate the conditions and behavior of any dog which he has reason to believe is vicious or dangerous, and if he finds such dog to be vicious in its habits he shall report his findings in writing to the owner of such dog if the name and whereabouts of said owner are known. Every vicious dog is subject to summary destruction if found at large. (5) To do and perform any other acts necessary to carry out the provisions of this Ordinance. (b) Notwithstanding any of the other provisions in the Ordinance contained, it shall be the duty of all peace officers within the County of Riverside and all sanitary inspectors, as well as the County Livestock Inspector and the City and County Health Officers to enforce and assist in the enforcement of the provisions of this Ordinance. All such persons are hereby empowered and it shall be their duty to enter upon any private property where any dog is kept, or believed by them or any of them to be kept, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any such dog is kept or otherwise harbored in violation of any of the provisions of this Ordinance. SECTION 4. Running at Large Prohibited. (a) Any person, owning, having, harboring, having charge, care, control or possession of any dog, who fails, refuses or neglects to keep such dog off of any street, alley, parkway, sidewalk, or any other public place within the City of Beaumont, unless said dog is on a leash of not more than six (6) feet in length and in the control of a competent person capable of complete control of said dog, is guilty of a misdemeanor. SECTION 5. Impounding. (a) It shall be the duty of every police officer or other person herein designated for that purpose to apprehend any dog found running at large contrary to the provisions of this Ordinance and to impound such dog in the city pound or other suitable place. The poundmaster (or some other designated official) upon receiving any dog shall make a complete registry, entering the breed, color, and sex of such dog and whether licensed. If licensed he shall enter the name and address of the owner and the number of the license tag. Licensed dogs shall be separated from unlicensed dogs. (b) Not later than forty-eight (48) hours after the impounding of any dog, the owner shall be notified, or if the owner of the dog is unknown, notice shall be posted for five (5) days at three (3) or more conspicuous places in the City of Peaumont describing the dog and the place and time of taking. The owner of any 'og so impounded may reclaim such dog upon payment of the license fee, if unpaid, 'Ind of all costs and charges incurred by the City of Beaumont for impounding and maintenance of said dog. The fc3.lowing charges shall be paid to the City of Beaumont: for impounding any dog an impound fee of $5.00 for the first offense and a fee of $10.00 for each ensuing such offense; for keeping any dog $1.00 per day, or any portion thereof; for giving notice $5.00. (c) Disposition of Unclaimed or Infected Dogs. It shall be the duty of the poundmaster to keep all dogs so impounded for a period of six (6) days. If at the expiration of six (6) days from the date of notice to the owner or the post- ing of notice such dog shall not have been redeemed, it may be destroyed. Any unlicensed dog required by law to be licensed, or any dog which appears to be suffering from rabies or affected with hydrophobia, mange or other infectious or dangerous disease shall not be released but may be forthwith destroyed. Provided however, that if any dangerous, fierce or vicious dogs so found at large cannot be safely taken up and impounded, such dogs may be slain by any peace officer. SECTION 6. Rabies - Notice. If a dog is believed to have rabies or has been bitten by a dog suspected of having rabies, such dog shall be confined by a leash or chain on the owner's premises and shall be placed under the observation of a veterinarian at the expense of the owner for a period of two (2) weeks. The owner shall notify the poundmaster of the fact that his dog has been exposed to rabies and at his discretion the poundmaster is empowered to have such dog removed from the owner's premises to a veterinary hospital and there placed under observation for a period of two (2) weeks at the expense of the owner. It shall be unlawful for any person knowing or suspecting a dog has rabies to allow such dog to be taken off his premises or beyond the limits of the city without the written permission of the poundmaster. Every owner, or other person, upon ascertaining a dog is rabid shall immediately notify the poundmaster or a policeman who shall either remove the dog to the pound or summarily destroy it. SECTION 7. Vaccination. It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog to keep, maintain, or allow such dog to run at large unless it shall have been vaccinated by a licensed veterinary surgeon with anti -rabies vaccine, within two years preceding the date on which such dog is kept, maintained or allowed to run at large. SECTION 8. Penalties. Any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Any day upon which any violation of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be a separate offense. SECTION 9. Repeal of Conflicting Ordinances. All existing ordinances of the City of Beaumont are hereby repealed insofar as they may be inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance. SECTION 10. Separability of Provisions. It is the intention of the City Council that each separate provision of this Ordinance shall be deemed independent of all other provisions herein, and it is further the intention of the City Council �. that if any provision of this Ordinance be declared invalid, all other provisions thereof shall remain valid and enforceable. SECTION 11. Urgenog Ordinance. This ordinance is hereby declared to be an Urgency Ordinance, and to be necessary for the immediate preservation of the Public peace, health and safety and the facts constituting its urgency are hereby stated and declared to be as follows: In accordance with approval of the Rabies Advisory Committee for Region 1, granted on August 24, 1967, the California Department of Public Health declared Inyo, Riverside and San Diego Counties as Rabies Areas within the meaning of Section 1901.2 and 1920 of the California Health and Safety Code. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same to be published once in the Record -Gazette, a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Beaumont, and it shall be in full force and effect immediately upon its adoption. ADOPTED this 26th day of September, 1967. Mayor ATTEST: rl i City Clerk. State of California) County of Riverside)ss City of Beaumont ) I, Bernice Conine, City Clerk of the City of Beaumont, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 382 was introduced and read at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Beaumont, duly held on the 26th day of September, 1967, and that the same was duly passed and adopted as an urgency ordinance, by the following vote: AYES: Councilman Karnes, Kief, Muse and Houston. NOES: None. ABSENT: Councilman Haskell. WITNESS my hand and seal of the City of Beaumont this 26th. day of September, 1967. t .✓ s-•mac-c-4_� �-t-7- -r a..�,® City Clerk.