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1965-039 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, PROVIDING FOR VACCINATION AND LICENSING OF DOGS AND PROVIDING FEES THEREFORE PROVIDING FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF AN ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER AND PRESCRIBING HIS POWERS AND DUTIES AUTH- ORIZING THE IMPOUNDING AND DESTRUCTION OF DOGS, MAKING IT UNLAWFUL TO PERMIT OR ALLOW ANY VICIOUS, FIERCE OR DANGEROUS DOG TO BE AT LARGE, MAKING IT UNLAWFUL TO PERMIT OR ALLOW ANY UNSPAYED FEMALE DOG IN HEAT TO BE AT LARGE, SPECIFICALLY REPEALING CERTAIN ORDINANCES PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE, PRESCRIBING A PENALTY FOR VIOLATION THEREOF, DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND ORDERING ITS PUBLICATION. THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS SECTION I. That the Code of Ordinances of the Clty of Denton, Texas, is hereby amended by substituting new Article 3 01 zn Chapter Three of said Code of Ordinances which shall hereafter read as follows ARTICLE 3 01 DOGS (a) It shall be the duty of the owner or keeper of each and every animal which isa member of the canine family, hereinafter referred to as dog, owned, kept, possessed, harbored or allowed upon the premises of any such person or entity and under his control an the City of Denton, Texas, to have such dog vaccinated against rabies by a legally licensed veterinarian at least once each year Vaccination ~s defined as a protective inoculation against rabies by lnooulatlon with antzrab~c vaccine recognized and approved by the U S Department of Agriculture given zn an amount sufficient to provide an immunity (b) It shall be unlawful for any person or entity within the llmlts of the C~ty of Denton, Texas, to own, keep, possess, harbor or to allow to remain upon premises under h~s control, any dog, (male, female or altered) of the age of slx (6) months or over without having secured a license therefor as hereinafter provided, or to allow any dog under the age of s~x (6) months to run at large without a rabies vaccination and license as herein provided (c) The fee for such license shall be $2 00 per year for each dog, payable in advance, such fee to be due and payable on or before the first day of January of each year hereafter All licenses issued hereunder shall expire December 31, and any part of any calendar year shall be deemed and considered the entire year Lic- enses for the ensuing year may be issued on and after ' November 1 of the preceding year, and shall be effec- tive during said ensuing calendar year (d) No license shall be issued for any dog unless said dog shall have first been vaccinated agalnst rabies by a legally l~censed veterinarian as here~nabove provided within thlrty (30) days prior to the issuance of such license There shall be exhibited to the Director of F~nance of the C~ty of Denton, Texas, prior to the lssuance of such license, a certificate signed by a legally l~censed veterinarian reflecting that sald dog has been duly vaccinated against rabies and glvlng the date of the vaccination thereof, and there- after, upon payment of the fee as above provided, the D~rector of Flnance shall then ~ssue a license for said dog (e) Upon payment of such license fee as provided herein, the Director of Finance shall issue a receipt, license and numbered tag to the person applying therefore The D~rector of Finance shall keep a register of all l~censes issued in which shall be entered the name and address of the applicant, description of the dog, and the date of ~ssuance and expiration It shall be the duty of the owner or keeper of each dog to apply for such l~cense, pay the fee for same and obtain a tag therefor, and to have and to keep said tag at all times during the year securely fastened to a collar or har- ness worn by such dog, and the failure of the owner or keeper in th~s respect shall have the same effect as if no l~cense had been s~cured for said dog (f) It shall be the duty of the owner or keeper of any dog to procure a substitute tag from the Director of F~nance ~n the event the original tag is lost or des- troyed, and the Director of Finance shall issue a substltute tag upon application of any person who has complied w~th the provisions of this ordinance and upon the payment of Fifty Cents ($ 50) for the cost of ~ssulng the substitute tag (g) The Clty Manager shall appoint for a per~od to be ter- minated at his pleasure a qualified person to act in the capacity of animal control officer, and for h~s services the an~mel control officer shall receive such compensation as shall be fixed by the City Council Nothing hereln shall prevent the appointment as animal control officer a person otherwise employed by the C~ty of Denton (h) It shall be the duty of the animal control officer or any pollce officer of the City of Denton, Texas, to take up any dog or dogs found running at large in violation of this ordinance w~thln the l~mlts of the Clty of Den~ and conflne such dog or dogs ~n the city pound for three (3) days, during which tl~ the owner or keeper of such dog upon satisfactory proof of h~s right to possession thereof, may redeem sa~d dog upon the payme~of a pound fee of $3 00 plus a sustenance charge of flfty c~Rts ($ 50) per day or any part of a day said dog shall have been conf~nded as well as all other fees provided by this ordinance The animal control officer shall provide at the cost of the City suitable and necessary sustenance for all dogs so impounded (~) If the owner or keeper of any dog so ~mpounded shall not apply for redemption of sa~d dog and pay such fees as here~n provided wlthln three {3) days from the time such dog is confined in the City Pound, such dog shall be destroyed humanely by or under the direction of the Chief of Police (]) If any pe~n shall make written complaint before the City Manager, City Attorney or Judge of the Corpora- t~on Court that any dog has bitten any person wlthln the limits of the City of Denton, ~t shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to dlrect the owner or keeper of said dog to keep said dog securely confined so as to abselu~elF_prevent sa~d dog from being an contact with person or animal for not less than ten consecutive days and to release said dog only upon written permission of the City Health Offlcer, or to keep said dog confined at a veterinary hospital for the same period of t~me at the expense of the owner or keeper, and the failure of such owner or keeper to comply with such directions shall be deemed a misdemeanor and punishable by the penalty provided in th~s ordinance (k) Any dog suffering a bite from a rabid animal or which displays symptoms of rabies shall be quarantined in a veterinary establlshme~ at the owner's expense for a period of at least slx months thereafter or shall be confined for such period in such other place and manner as may he approved by the C1ty Health Officer in writing, provided, that ~f the owner or keeper of any such dog can not be readily identified or located after reasonable diligence, upon wrltten dlreclton of the C~ty Health Officer, such dog shall be destroyed humanely by or under the d~rect~on of the Chief of Police (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to permit or allow any vicioust fierce or dangerous dog owned, possessed, kept or harbored by him to be at large on any street, sidewalk, alley or other public premises or on private premises not under the control of such person, wlthln the limits of the City of Denton, Texas, whether a license for such dog shall have been secured or not, and proof of the fact that said dog has attacked or bitten any person or animal at any place where such p~mOM or animal ia ~egally entitled to be shall be prima facle evidence that such dog is v~clous, fierce and dangerous wlthln the meaning of this ordinance (m} It shall be unlawful for any person to permit or allow any unspayed female dog while such dog is in heat, owned, possessed, kept or harbored by hlm to be at large on any street, sidewalk, alley or other public place or on private premises not under the control of such person, w~thln the limits of the City of Denton, Texas, whether a license for such dog shall have been secured or not (n) Any person violating any of the provisions of th~s ordinance, or any person who shall neglect, fa~l or refuse to comply with the terms thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined any sum not exceedIng One Hundred Dollars ($100 00), and each and every day of such violation shall be deemed a separate and complete offense (o) Whenever the City Health Officer shall determine that it is in the interest of the safety of the public to do so, he shall issue a proclamation declaring an emergency and prohibiting dogs to run at large for a period of ninety (90) days And such proclamation shall be published in the official newspaper of this city for one (1) publication During the period of ninety (90) days subsequent to any such publication, it shall be unlawful for any owner of any dog to allow said dog to run at large The penal provision of this Artacle applaes hereto ~ECTION II This ordanance shall be and at is hereby declared to be cumula, tave of all other ordinances of the City of Denton, Texas, and shall not operate to repeal any such ordinance or ordinances (except those herelnabove expressly repealed) except ansofar as the provaslons of such other ordinance or ordinances are incon- sistent or in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance, in which anstance or instances those provaszons shall be hereby repealed If any sectaon, part or provlsaons of thas ordinance is declared unconstitutional or anvalad, then, in that event, at is expressly provaded, and it Ks the intention of the City Councal in passing this ordanance, that all other parts of thas ordin- ance shall not be affected thereby and shall remain in full force and effect SECTION IV That this ordinance shall become effective fourteen (14) days from the date of its passage, and the City Secretary is hereby directed to cause the caption of this ordinance to be published twice in the Denton Record Chronicle within ten (10) days of the date of its passage A D 1965 Warren Whltson, Jr , Mayor City of Denton, Texas ATTEST ~~ C~ty Secretary C~ty of Denton, Texas APPROVED A~ TO LEGAL FORM