CHAPTER 10 -
REGULATION, CONTROL AND CARE OF ANIMALS
Article I - Definitions
Section 10-1 Definitions......................................................................................................
Article II - Regulation and Control
Section 10-2 Running at Large............................................................................................
Section 10-3 Animals Creating a Nuisance..........................................................................
Section 10-3.01 Cleaning Up After Animal..........................................................................
Section 10-4 Appeals...........................................................................................................
Section 10-5 Vicious Animals...............................................................................................
Section 10-6 Location and Maintenance of Animal Pens and Enclosures...........................
Section 10-7 Impoundment, Release and Destruction..........................................................
Section 10-8 Interference with Administrator......................................................................
Article III - Rabies
Section 10-13 Administrator to Cooperate in Vaccination
Program....................................
Section 10-14 Quarantine of Animals Suspected of Having
Rabies.....................................
Section 10-15 Disposition of Rabid Animals........................................................................
Article IV - Care and Protection
Section 10-18 Care Required; Abandonment Prohibited.....................................................
Section 10-19 Cruelty to Animals.........................................................................................
Section 10-20 Responsibility of Person Injuring Animal......................................................
Article V - Penalties and Remedies
Section 10-23 Penalties and Remedies.................................................................................
(A) Unless
otherwise specifically provided or unless otherwise clearly required by the
context, the following words and phrases shall have the meaning indicated when
used in this chapter.
(1) Administrator. The person or persons authorized by the Board
to perform the responsibilities assigned by this chapter to the
administrator. Unless otherwise provided
by the Board, the administrator for purposes of this ordinance shall mean the
(2) Livestock. Horses, mules, cows, pigs, goats, sheep, fowl
(such as chickens, ducks, turkeys, etc.), rabbits and all other animals that
typically are kept primarily for productive or useful purposes rather than as
pets.
(3) Runs at Large. An animal runs at large when it is off the
premises of the owner and is not under the immediate and effective constraint
of the owner or other competent person in charge of the animal.
(A) No person
owning or having possession, charge, custody, or control of any animal may
cause, permit, or allow the animal to stray or in any manner to run at large
upon any public street, sidewalk or other public property or to stray, run at
large or otherwise trespass upon the private property of another.
(B) As
provided in G.S. 67-2, no person owning or having any bitch may allow her to
run at large while she is in heat, and as provided in G.S. 67-12, no person may
allow his dog over six months old to run at large at night unaccompanied by the
owner or some person acting on his behalf.
(A) No person
may have or keep within the town, after receiving the notice of removal in
subsection (C), any animal that:
(1) Habitually or repeatedly without provocation,
chases, snaps at or attacks pedestrians, bicycles or vehicles even if the
animal never leaves the owner's property (except that this provision shall not
apply if such animal is restrained by a pen, fence, or other enclosure) or does
so only to transgress upon the adjacent right-of-way and then returns to its
owner's property;
(2) Seriously interferes with the reasonable use
and enjoyment by neighboring residents of their property because of its
habitual barking, howling, whining, crying, crowing, or other noise making; or
(3) Without provocation, and off the premises of
the animal's owner, inflicts on any person a serious injury requiring treatment
by a physician, including but not limited to a bite or scratch that breaks the
skin.
(B) If the
administrator determines that any animal is creating a nuisance as described in
(A)(1) or (A)(2), he shall in writing inform the animal's owner of the nature
of the violation(s) and shall indicate that unless these violations are
corrected, the owner shall be required to remove the animal from the town.
(C) If the
administrator determines that any animal cited for a violation of subsection
(A)(1), or (A)(2) has, within one year after service of the notice prescribed
in subsection (B), continued to cause a nuisance as described in those
subsections, or if the administrator at any time determines that an animal has
caused a nuisance as described in (A)(3), then the administrator shall, in
writing, notify the animal's owner that the animal must forthwith be removed
from the town. The administrator shall
also notify the owner of his right to appeal this determination in accordance
with Section 10-4.
(A) No person
owning or having possession, charge, custody or control of any animal may
cause, permit, or allow said animal to defecate upon any public street,
sidewalk, or other public property without immediately cleaning up or restoring
said public property.
"Immediately" within the meaning of this Section shall be
deemed to mean within five (5) minutes of the creation of said nuisance.
(B) The Town
shall immediately cause signs to be posted on public property and public
rights-of-way notifying all members of the public that
animals must be curbed on public rights-of-way as required by Town
Ordinance.
[Amended March
8, 1994]
[Editor’s note: This section was
previously numbered as Section 10-3A.]
(A) The owner
of any animal who is required to remove his animal from the town pursuant to
Section 10-3 may appeal to the Board within 10 days after receiving the written
notice of the determination appealed from.
An appeal is taken by filing a written notice of appeal with the
administrator and stays all enforcement efforts of the administrator until the
appeal is disposed of.
(B) The Board shall consider the appeal at its next regular meeting if possible. The Board may uphold, reverse, or modify the determination appealed from, and the administrator shall thereafter continue or cease his enforcement efforts in accordance with the Board's decision.
(A) In accordance
with G.S. 106-381, when an animal becomes vicious or a menace to the public
health, the owner of such animal or person harboring such animal may not permit
such animal to leave the premises on which kept unless on leash in the care of
a responsible person.
(B) Not
withstanding any provision of this chapter, the provisions of Part II of
Article V of Chapter 11 of the Town Code (dealing with the summary abatement of
public health nuisances) are available to secure the immediate removal from
the town of any animal or condition that is found to be dangerous or
prejudicial to the public health or safety
(A) All
livestock shall be kept within a pen, coop, fence, or other secure enclosure.
(B) Lots,
pens, coops, and other enclosures where animals are kept or fed shall be
located at such a distance from dwellings and places of concentrated human
activity and at such distance from sources of water or food supply or food
preparation as may be necessary to protect the public health.
(C) All such
lots, pens, coops, and other enclosures shall be maintained at all times in a
sufficiently clean and sanitary manner to protect adjacent properties from
offensive odors or other nuisances.
(A) The
administrator may impound any animal that:
(1) Is found running at large.
(2) In accordance with Section 10-14, has bitten
any person or is otherwise suspected of having rabies; or
(3) Is found to be without proper care because of
the incapacitation or absence of its owner.
(B) Whenever
an animal is impounded, or whenever an animal otherwise lawfully comes into the
possession of the administrator, that animal shall be taken to the county animal
control shelter. Thereafter, such animal
may be reclaimed by the owner, adopted by others or destroyed in accordance
with the policies and procedures adopted by the county for the administration
of the animal control shelter.
(C) Whenever an animal is impounded or otherwise comes into the possession of the administrator, the administrator shall make reasonable efforts to identify the owner, notify him of the impoundment, and advise him of the conditions under which the animal may be reclaimed.
(A) No person
may obstruct, interfere with, hinder or molest the administrator in the lawful
performance of any duty authorized by this chapter.
(B) No person
may release or attempt to release any animal that is in custody of the
administrator.
Sections 10-9 through 10-12 Reserved.
The administrator shall cooperate with and assist
the
(A) Every
animal that has bitten any person or that shows symptoms of rabies shall be
securely confined for a period of at least ten days and shall not be released
from such quarantine except by written permission of the administrator.
(B) The owner
of an animal that has bitten any person or that shows symptoms of rabies shall
report the same immediately to the administrator. Any person bitten by an animal shall
immediately report the incident to the administrator.
(C) Animals
quarantined in accordance with this section shall be confined in a veterinary
hospital or the county animal shelter at the owner's expense, unless the
administrator determines that the owner has adequate confinement facilities
upon his own premises. For purposes of
this subsection, adequate confinement facilities means a fenced-in area that
has no entrances or exits that are not locked, or a similar area providing
equivalent security.
(D) If rabies does not develop during the period of confinement, the administrator shall authorize the release of the animal. If rabies does develop, the animal shall be disposed of as provided in Section 10-15.
(A) In
accordance with G.S. 106-379, every rabid animal, after rabies has been
diagnosed by a licensed graduate veterinarian, shall be killed at once in a
humane manner by the administrator, or at his direction, except that, if the
animal has bitten a human being, such animal shall be confined under the
supervision of a licensed graduate until death of an animal. The remains of the animal shall be disposed
of as provided in G.S. 106-379.
(B) In
accordance with G.S. 106-377, every animal known to have been bitten by another
animal that is known or proved to be rabid shall be killed by the administrator
or at his direction, unless the animal has been properly vaccinated against
rabies. In that event, the animal shall
be closely confined for 90 days. If,
during this period, the animal shows symptoms of rabies the provisions of Section
10-14 shall apply. At the end of this
period, the animal may be released from confinement if declared free from
rabies by a licensed veterinarian or a rabies inspector appointed in
accordance with G.S. 106-366.
Sections 10-16 and 10-17 Reserved.
(A) No owner
shall fail to provide his animals with sufficient good and wholesome food and
water, proper shelter and protection from the weather, and veterinary care when
needed to prevent suffering.
(B) No owner
of an animal shall abandon such animal.
In accordance with G.S. 14-360, no person shall
willfully overdrive, overload, wound, injure, torture, cruelly beat,
needlessly mutilate or kill any animal or cause or procure the same.
Any person who, as the operator of a motor vehicle
or bicycle, strikes and injures a domestic animal shall stop at once and render
such assistance as may be possible and shall immediately report the incident to
the animal's owner. If the owner cannot
be ascertained or located with reasonable effort, the operator shall notify the
administrator by contacting the town police department.
Sections 10-21 and 10-22 Reserved.
(A) A
violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a
misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $100.00 or imprisonment for
not more than 30 days, or both. [Amended July 13, 1993]
(B) A
violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall also subject the
offender to a civil penalty of $10.00.
The penalty for a second violation of subsection 10-2(A) shall be $15.00
and for a third violation and subsequent violations the penalty shall be
$25.00. If the offender fails to pay
this penalty within fifteen (15) calendar days after being cited for a
violation, the penalty may be recovered by the town in a civil action in the
nature of a debt.
(C) Each day
that any violation continues after a person has been notified that such
violation exists and that he is subject to the penalties specified in
subsections (A) and (B) shall constitute a separate offense.
(D) This
chapter may also be enforced by any appropriate equitable action, including
injunctions or orders of abatement.
(E) The town
may enforce this chapter by any one or any combination of the foregoing
remedies.