For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall mean:

(a)   Animals: means all vertebrate and invertebrate animals such as, but not limited to, bovine cattle, horses and other equines, hogs, goats, dogs, rabbits, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons and other fowl or wild animals, reptiles, fish, bees or birds that have been tamed, domesticated or captivated.

(b)   Cat: means any member of the species felis catus, regardless of sex.

(c)   Dog: means any member of the species canis familiaris, regardless of sex.

(d)   At-Large: means any animal, with the exception of a cat, that is not confined within a fenced enclosure, operating electronic fencing system when the premises are clearly and prominently marked or capable of preventing the animal from exiting at will, unless under the control of a person, either by lead, rope or chain which is sufficient to keep the animal on the premises where picketed. Animals picketed within range of public thoroughfares are deemed to be “at-large.” Animals under voice control only will not be considered having adequate control and will be treated as at-large.

No person, firm or corporation shall permit any animal to run at large within the corporate limits of this city.

(a)   There is hereby created the position of animal control officer for the city and such officer shall be charged with the enforcement of this chapter. Any person employed by the city as an animal control officer shall have such powers and authority as allowed by the law in the enforcement of this chapter. All animal control officers shall be subject to the supervision and direction of the mayor of the city.

(b)   Except as provided in subsection (c), it shall be the duty of the animal control officer to take up and impound all animals found in the city in violation of the provisions of this chapter.

(c)   As an alternative to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, any law enforcement officer or the animal control officer may issue a citation to the owner, harborer or keeper of an animal in violation of this chapter, and the person receiving the citation shall appear in the municipal court of the city to answer the charged violation. Said citation, when signed by a control officer, need not be subscribed before the municipal judge.

When deemed necessary by law enforcement officers or the animal control officer for the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the city, such officers and/or their agents may:

(a)   Place a humane trap on public or a requesting resident’s property for the purpose of capturing any animal defined in this chapter as creating a nuisance in the city.

(b)   Use firearms or other suitable weapons to destroy any rabid animal, any vicious animal or any animal creating a nuisance, when such animal is impossible or impractical to catch.

A municipal pound shall be established to carry out the provisions of this chapter. Such a pound may be operated by a contractor and all services required herein may be provided by a contractor.

(a)   It shall be unlawful for any unauthorized person to open, unlock, break open or attempt to break open the pound, or to take or let out any animal placed therein, or take or attempt to take from an authorized officer of this city any animal taken up by him or her under the provisions of this chapter, or in any manner interfere with or hinder any authorized officer or employee of this city in catching, taking up or impounding any animal.

(b)   It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, other than those duly authorized, to care for, feed, attempt to feed or interfere in any way with the care of impounded animals.

If the owner of any animal shall apply to and pay the animal control officer the costs, charges and expenses incurred under the provisions of this chapter and prove the ownership thereof to the satisfaction of the animal control officer at any time before the sale of such animal, the animal control officer shall release such animal to the owner.

(a)   The animal control officer or his designated agent or any law enforcement officer shall impound any animal or fowl found at large in the city or constituting a nuisance or otherwise in violation of this chapter in a suitable pound or enclosure provided or contracted for by the city. The impounding officer shall make diligent inquiry as to the owner of the animal and shall notify the owner thereof of such impoundment as soon as reasonably possible.

(b)   The city shall be entitled to receive from such owner a fine in the amount of Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) for impounding fee for the first offense, plus the cost of keeping the animal; Twenty-Five Dollars ($25.00) impounding fee for the second offense plus the cost of keeping the animal and Thirty-Five Dollars ($35.00) impounding fee for the third and each subsequent offense thereafter plus the cost of keeping the animal.

(c)   In case the identity of the owner of the impounded animal or fowl cannot be ascertained, the animal control officer shall, upon taking any such animal into custody and impounding the same, make a record thereof, with a description of the animal and the date and place taken into custody and the place of impounding, and shall thereupon immediately post a public notice stating that the animal, describing the same with the date and place of taking, has been taken up, and that unless the charges of impounding the same, together with any license fees due and unpaid, are paid within five (5) business days from the date of the notice, that the animal will be disposed of or sold.

(d)   The animal control officer shall each month submit a report to the city council showing the number of animals impounded and disposed of, and the fees collected pursuant to this chapter and shall pay those fees to the city clerk for credit to the general operating fund.

(a)   It shall be unlawful for any person to:

(1)   Willfully or maliciously kill, maim, disfigure, torture; beat with a stick, chain, club or other object; mutilate, poison, burn or scald with any substance; or otherwise cruelly set upon any animals, except that reasonable force may be employed to drive off vicious animals;

(2)   Drive or work any animal cruelly or cruelly work any maimed, mutilated, infirm, sick or disabled animal, or cause, allow or permit the same to be done;

(3)   Have, keep or harbor any animal which is infected with any dangerous or incurable and/or painfully crippling condition except as provided in subsection (b);

(4)   Sell or offer for sale, barter, give away, or use as an advertising device or promotional display, living baby chicks, rabbits, ducklings or other fowl under two months of age in any quantity less than 12; or to sell, offer for sale, barter, give away, or display animals or fowls as specified in this section which have been dyed, colored or otherwise treated so as to impart to them an artificial or unnatural color. This section shall not be construed to prohibit the sale of animals or fowls as specified in this subsection, in proper facilities, by hatcheries or persons engaged in raising and selling such animals and fowls for recognized animal husbandry purposes;

(5)   Promote, stage, hold, manage, or in any way conduct any game, exhibition, contest or fight in which one or more animals are engaged for the purpose of injuring, killing, maiming, or destroying themselves or any other animal;

(6)   Neglect or refuse to supply such animal with necessary and adequate care, food, drink, air, light, space, shelter or protection from the elements as necessary for health and well-being of such kind of animal.

(7)   Abandon or leave any animal in any place without making provisions for its proper care;

(8)   These provisions shall not apply to the exceptions sanctioned under section 2-108.

(b)   The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to:

(1)   Normal or accepted veterinary or veterinary hospital practices or treatment of animals under active veterinary care;

(2)   Bona fide experiments carried on by commonly recognized research facilities;

(3)   Killing, attempting to kill, trapping, catching or taking of any animal in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 32 or Chapter 47 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated;

(4)   Rodeo practices accepted by the rodeo cowboys’ association;

(5)   The humane killing of an animal which is diseased or disabled beyond recovery for any useful purpose, or the humane killing of animals for population control, by the owner thereof or by an authorized agent such as a licensed veterinarian, at the request of the owner;

(6)   The humane killing of an animal by the animal control officer, a public health officer or a law enforcement officer in the performance of his or her official duty;

(7)   The humane killing of an unclaimed animal after five full business days following the receipt of such animal at a municipal pound or an incorporated humane society shelter by the owner, operator or authorized agents of such establishments.

In addition to the penalties provided in section 1-116 of this code, the municipal court judge may order a person convicted of violation under this section to turn the animal involved over to a designated humane society. All such animals taken by the designated agency may be placed with another or more suitable person or destroyed humanely as soon thereafter as is conveniently possible.

(Code 2016)

There is hereby established an Animal Commission for the purpose of granting, supervising and revoking animal permits in the city. Said commission to consist of five members to hold office for a term of five (5) years each, each term to be staggered. Each commissioner may succeed himself or herself in office.

It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or maintain any hogs, pigs, swine, horses, cattle, sheep or goats and any other farm animals, and fowl and rabbits within the corporate limits of the city without first obtaining a permit therefore from the animal commission of said city. All dog and cat issues go before the designated animal control officer.

Any person desiring to keep or pasture any hogs, swing, horses, cattle, sheep or goats or any other farm animals, and fowl and rabbits, within the city, shall file an application with the city clerk for permission therefore and the city clerk shall thereupon deliver said application to the animal control officer who shall check the place that said animals are to be kept or shall have the same checked by a designated person, shall notify property owners within two hundred (200) feet of the property for which the application is for and shall make recommendations to the animal commission with said application at the next regular meeting. That if the animal commission finds that the keeping of said livestock as set out in the application and the manner of the keeping of the same shall not be offensive, or a nuisance or unsanitary, they shall issue a permit therefore and supply therein the conditions and manner in which such livestock may be kept on the location set out in the application. Said permit shall be for a period not to exceed one (1) year.

That if a permit is denied, a person having livestock shall remove the same from said city within ten (10) days after notice has been given to them that their permit has been denied.

If at any time the animal control officer shall find that any person to whom a permit has been issued for the keeping of livestock is keeping the same in an offensive or unsanitary manner, or detrimental to the health of the people in the neighborhood or the people of the city, they shall revoke the permit issued to said person, but no such permit shall be revoked until after ten (10) days’ notice is given to the person holding such permit and a hearing had thereon before permit and a hearing had thereon before the city council in which the party may appear.

No person shall cause or permit any animal to be picketed upon any pubic street or alley or upon any public grounds within the city.

“Vicious animal” as used in this chapter shall mean and include:

(a)   Any animal which by virtue of its breeding, training, characteristics, behavior or other factors the owner of custodian thereof knows or has reason to know has a propensity, tendency or disposition to attack unprovoked, to cause injury or to otherwise endanger the safety of human beings, dogs, cats and other domestic animals;

(b)   All poisonous animals including rear-fang snakes;

(c)   Any warm blooded, carnivorous or omnivorous, wild or exotic animal (including but not limited to nonhuman primates, raccoons, skunks, foxes and wild or exotic cats).

It shall be unlawful to keep, harbor, own or in any way possess within the city, any vicious animal which either:

(a)   Attempts to attack, bite or otherwise do bodily harm to a human being, dog, cat and other domestic animal; or

(b)   Attacks, bites, or otherwise does bodily harm to a human being, dog, cat or other domestic animal.

Any person harboring any animal in such a way as to create a nuisance shall be deemed guilty of maintaining a public nuisance.

A person who has been convicted of violation Section 2-117 may be sentenced to a fixed term of confinement in the county jail not to exceed thirty (30) days. In addition to or instead of confinement, any such person may be sentenced by the court to pay a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars $500.00).

Any person convicted of violation Section 2-116 also may be ordered by the court to make full or partial restitution to any individual who has suffered bodily injury or injury to any of their dogs, cats and other domestic animals as the result of an attack by such persons’ vicious animal.

(a)   Any public health officer, law enforcement officer or licensed veterinarian, or any officer or agent of a duly incorporated humane society, may take into custody an animal suspected of being kept by its owner or custodian in violation of Section 2-117. When a law enforcement agency takes custody of such animal, the agency may place the animal in the care of a duly incorporated humane society or licensed veterinarian for boarding, treatment or such other case deemed necessary.

(b)   Any vicious animal kept in violation of Section 2-117 may be ordered by the court destroyed in a humane manner when, in the court’s judgment, such vicious animal represents a continuing threat of serious harm to human beings, dogs, cats and other domestic animals. If the court does not order destruction of the animal, the court shall allow the owner of custodian thereof no more than forth-eight (48) hours to remove the animal from the city. Failure to remove such animal within the time allowed by the court shall constitute a separate violation of Section 2-117.

(c)   Any person convicted of a violation of Section 2-117 shall be assessed as costs all expenses for the care, treatment, boarding or other expenses necessitated by the seizure of any animal for the protection of the public, including all expenses for the humane destruction of such animal by order of the court.

No person or persons shall keep or use any yard, pen, lot or place on his or her premises, or premises under his or her control, within this city, in or upon which any number of dogs or other animals may be kept in such manner as to constitute a public nuisance or to endanger the health of the inhabitants of the city.

(a)   Keeping, maintaining, etc. It shall be unlawful for any person to own, keep, maintain or have in his possession or under his control, within the city limits, any live mammal, bird or reptile, except as excluded in subsection (d).

(b)   Selling, trading, etc. It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully sell, offer for sale, trade or offer for trade, within the city limits, any live mammal, bird or reptile, except as excluded in subsection (d).

(c)   Buying, accepting in trade. It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully buy or accept in trade, within the city limits, any live mammal, bird or reptile except as excluded in subsection (d).

(d)   Animals excluded by section. Animals excluded by this section are:

(1)   Domestic dogs.

(2)   Domestic cats.

(3)   Domestic hoof stock.

(4)   Rodents.

(5)   European ferrets.

(6)   Rabbits.

(7)   Birds, except for ostriches, emus, rheas and cassowaries.

(8)   Non venomous snakes less than four feet in length.

(9)   Non venomous lizards.

(10) Turtles, except snapping turtles.

(11) Amphibians.

(12) Fish.

(13) Invertebrates.

(e)   Exemptions. The prohibitions of this section shall not apply to bona fide:

(1)   Zoos, as defined by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums.

(2)   Medical institutions.

(3)   Educational institutions.

(4)   Veterinary clinics in possession of the animals prohibited under this section.

(5)   Circuses, if properly licensed by the city.

(6)   Carnivals, if properly licensed by the city.

(7)   Persons who own, keep, maintain or have in their possession or under their control any live mammal, bird or reptile except as excluded in subsection (d) on or before July 1, 1997, provided, however, that such persons have obtained from the city clerk, or an agent authorized by the city clerk, a permit for each prohibited animal pursuant to the requirements set forth in subsection (j) of this section.

(8)   Persons temporarily transporting such animals through the city.

(9)   Persons designated and licensed as animal rehabilitators by the state fish and game commission.

(f)   Sanitary requirements. All persons and institutions listed in subsection (e) must ensure that all animals and animal quarters conform to the provisions of the nuisance ordinances of the city and are kept in a clean and sanitary condition and so maintained as to limit objectionable odors; and shall ensure that all animals are maintained in quarters which are adequately constructed so as to prevent their escape.

(g)   Licensing. All persons and institutions listed in subsection (e) must be properly licensed, if so required, by any rule or regulation promulgated under the authority of federal statute enacted by the United States, or by any statute enacted by the state, or by any rule or regulation promulgated by any agency or department as authorized by state statute.

(h)   Violations. A violation of any provision of this section shall constitute a new and separate offense each calendar day the violation continues to exist.

(i)    Destruction or removal of prohibited animals. Upon conviction of a violation of this section, the judge of the municipal court of the city may order the owner, harborer, keeper or possessor to confine, destroy or remove from the city any animal prohibited under this section.

(j)    Permit required; application; fees.

(1)   No person, as described in subsection (e)(7), shall own, keep or harbor within the corporate limits of this city any animal prohibited by this section without first obtaining a permit from the city clerk, or an agent of the city clerk, who may issue such permit when proper application is made in writing.

(2)   Applications for exotic or captive wild animal permits shall be made to the city clerk, or authorized agent of the city clerk, upon forms provided by the city clerk and setting forth such information as necessary to properly implement the provisions of this section. Each application must contain, but shall not be limited to, the name of the owner, harborer, keeper or possessor of the animal, his street address, mailing address and telephone number. Such application forms shall be completed by the applicant and submitted to the city clerk, or authorized agent, for approval and payment of the permit fee. The application form shall serve as the exotic or captive wild animal permit and shall constitute consent by the applicant to any reasonable inspection of the animal.

(3)   The permit fees under this section shall be Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per animal for each permit year. The permit year shall be from January 1 through December 31 of each year.

(a)   Animals may be kept as pets at the Northview Apartments utilizing the pet policy and agreement of the city of Minneapolis, Kansas Housing Authority and will be subject to changes in said policy hereafter.

(b)   The Minneapolis Housing Authority shall establish rules and regulations governing the keeping of service animals and pets.

(Code 2016; Ord. 1685)