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HomeMy WebLinkAboutordinance.council.002-52 ORDINANCE NO. ~ (SERIES 0~ 19~-f~ AN O~DINANC~ PROVIDING ~0~ T~E L~CE~SING OF AL~ DOCS WITHIN T~ CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO; PROHIBITING UI~- LICENSED DOGS FROM RU~,~iNG AT LARGE WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CI1nf OF ASPEN, COLORADO; AUTHORIZING THE IMPOUNDING AND )ESTRUCTIO~ OF DOGS; PROVIDING A PENALTY; AND REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT THEREWITH. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO: Section 1. DEFINITION OF TERMS. For the purpose of this Ordinance certain terms and words are herewith defined as follows: DOG: ,%~y animal of the canine species, regardless of sex. OWNER: Any person or persons, firm, association or corporatlor o,~ning, keeping or harboring a dog. AT LARGE: Off the premises of the o~mer and not under the con- trol of the owmer or a member of his immediate family, either by leash, cord, cD, in or otherwise. Section 2. LICENSE AND REGISTRATION REQUIRED. That no dog ower the age of six months shall be kept, harbored or malntalned w'Ithin the City of Aspen, Colorado, unless the owner, keeper or per- son in charge of any such ~mlmal shall before the first day of March of each year pay to the City Clerk a license tax of ~3.~0 fcc~ each and every male or spayed female and ~?.~0 for each and every unspayed female dog owned, kept or [mrbored. The owner, keeper or )erson in charge of any dog over the ale of six months brought into ;he City of Aspen after the first day of [~rch of any year shall procure a license within ten days as herein provide~. ~he 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 to be licensed. The provision of this section shall not be intended to apply to dogs whose owners are non-residents temporarily within the city, nor to does brought into the city for the purposes of participating in any ~o~ show, nor to "seeing-eye" dogs prope~rly trained to assist blind )ersons when such dots are actually being used by blin~ persons for ;he purpose of aiding them in goin~ from place to place. Section 3- TAG AND COLLAR: Upon payment of the license fee as provided in Section 2 hereof, the Clerk shall issue to the owne~, keeper or person in charge of each dog, a receipt for the payment and a metallic tag for each dog so licensed. The receipt shall con- tain the number of the license as shown on the metallic tag. Every owner shall be required to provide each dog owned by him with a durable collar to which the metallic license tag must be affixed, and shall see that the collar and tag are constantly worn. In case a do~ licensin8 tag is lost, destroyed or mutilated, a duplicate will be issued by the City Clerk upon the presentation of the recei showing the payment of the licensing fee for the current year and upon payment of a fee of twenty-five cents for such duplicate. Dog itags shall not be transferable from one dog to another, and no re- ifunds shall be made on any dog license fee because of the death of the dog or the owner's leaving the city before the expiration of the! licensing period. Section 4. UNLICENSED DOGS RU~ING AT LARGE PROHIBITED: No owner or keeper of any dog shall permit such dog to run at large if said dog is unlicensed as herein provided. Section 5. IMPOUT_~DING: It shall be the duty of every police officer or every person duly deputized for that purpose, to appre- hend any dog found running at large contrary to the provisions of Section 4, and to impound such dog in a suitable dog pound to be ~rovided by the City of Aspen, Colorado. The keeper of any such ~ound, upon receiving said dog, shall make a complete registry of ~uch dog upon a book by him kept for such purpose, entering the breed, color and sex of such dog, and whether licensed. If licensed he shall enter the name and address of the owner, the number of the licensing tag. dogs. Section 6. NOTICE TO OWNER AND REDEMPTION: hours after the impounding.of any dog the owner Licensed dogs shall be separated from the unlicensed Not later than 48 shall be. notified, -2- if the dog is licensed, and if the dog is unlicensed and the owner cannot otherwise be ascertained, a notice small be published in tM next issue of a paper o~ general circulation within the City of Aspen, which notice shall describe the dog and the place and time of taking. Said notice shall also provide that it shall be the dul of the owner to reclaim such dog in the manner herein provided within five days after the date of publication. The m~ner of any dog so impounded may reclaim such dog upon payment of the licensing fee if unpaid, and of all costs and charges incurred by the City of Aspen for publication of the notice, impounding and maintenance of said dog. The charge of ~2.00 shall be made for the impounding of any dog; the charge of fifty cents a day for every day or part thereof the dog is so impounded; and the charge of giving notice, which charge shall be the actual cost of such notice. Section 7. DISPOSITION OF UNCLAImeD OR INFECTED DOGS: It shall be the duty of the person in charge of the dog pound to keep all dogs so impounded for a period of five days after the owner, if known, has been notified as herein provided, or for a period of fiw day~ after the date of publication in the event that the owner is unknown. If at the expiration of such time the dog shall not have been redeemed, it may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of, at the discretion of the poundmaster; however, said poundmaster shall not release the dog so impounded except on payment of the fees and charges as herein provided, as well as the regular licensing fee. Section 8. CONFINEMENT OF CERTAIN DOGS: No dog of fierce, dangerous or vicious propensities and no female dog in heat, whethe~ licensed or not, shall be allowed to run at large or upon the pre- mises of one other than the owner. If any such dog is found runnin at large in violation of this provisign, it shall be taken up and impounded and shall not be released except upon the approval of the poundmaster after payment of the fees provided in Section 6; pro- vided however, that the-pdundmaster shall not releas~ a~y fierce, dangerous or vicious dog unless suitable provisions are made for him by his owner to protect the public against these propensities, and no female dog in heat shall be released unless the owner has facilities for caring for and confining such dog. In the event that any dog with fierce, dangerous or vicious propensities is fount to be running at large and cannot be safely taken up and impounded~ such dog may be slain by the police~n or any person duly deputized for this purpose. Section 9. MUZZLING: Whenever it becomes necessary to safe- guard the public from the dangers of hydrophobia, the Mayor of the City of Aspen, if he deems it necessary, may issue a proclamation ordering every person owning or keeping a dog to confine it secure! on his premises, unless such dog shall have a muzzle of sufficient strength to prevent its biting any person. Any unmuzzled dog run- ning at large during the time of the proclamation shall be seized and impounded, unless it be noticeably infected with rabies and dis- playing vicious propensities in which event it shall be killed by the city police of the City of Aspen or by any person duly deputize~ for this purpose, without notice to the owner. Dogs impounded durin the period of such proclamation shall be dealt with as herein pro- vided for dogs running at large without licenses. Section 10. 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 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 at least two weeks. The owner shall notify the poundmaster of the fact tb~t this dog has been exposed to rabies, and at the discretion of the poundmaster he is hereby empowered to have the dog ~emoved from the owner's premises to ~ veterinarian hospital and there placed tuader observation for a period of at least two weeks at the expense of the owner. Every owner or her person ~ho'suspects or has ascertain&~ that a dog is -4- rabid shall immediately notify the poundmaster or city police, who shall either remove the dog to the pound or summarily destroy it. Section ll. PENALTIES: Any owner found in violation of any ~rovisions of this Ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and tpon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than ~5.00 nor more tb~n $300.00 for each offense. Section 12. REPEAL OF CONFLICTING ORDINANCES: All existing ordinances of the City of Aspen, Colorado, are hereby repealed in- sofar as they may be inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, particularly Sections 244, 251, 252, 253 and 254 of the General Colorado, passed by the City Council 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250~ Ordinance of the City of Aspen, of the City of Aspen and ap- proved by its mayor on the 26th day of July, A. D. 1886. Section 13. SEVERABILI~I~Z OF PROVISIONS: It is the intention of the City Council of the City of Aspen, Colorado, that each sepa- rate provision of this Ordinance shall be deemed independent of all other provisions therein and it is further the intention of the Cit.~ Council thereof that if any provision of this Ordinance be declared invalid, all other provisions shall remain valid and enforcible. Section 14. EFFECTIVE DATE: This Ordinance shall be in force and effect from and after January l, 1953- Section 15. EMERGENCY CLAUSE: An emergency is declared to exist and the immediate passage of this Ordinance is necessary for oublic peace, health and safety of the inhabitants of the City of Aspen, Colorado. Introduced, read and ordered published as provided by law by the City Council of Aspen, Colorado, at its regular meeting held at said City of Aspen, on this 5th day of N~~ MAYOR ATTES~T :~ . ~ Finally passed, adopted and approved on this ~' ~ day of A. ~. MAYOR