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NO. 23 .e . e ,,,-,, OJ!"dinance No.23. .Jl ~-' DOG & CAT ORDINANCE BE IXORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS: SECTION 1. Definition of terms, As used in this ordinance, unless the context otherwise indicates, a. "Dog" shall be intended to mean both male and female. b. "Cat" shall be intended to mean both male and female. c. "Owner" shall be intended to mean any person or persons, firm, association or corporation owning, keeping, or harboring a dog. "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 its immediate family either by lease, cord, chain or otherwise. SECTION 2. License and Registratibon Required. All dogs and/ or cats kept, harbored, or maintained by their owners in the City of Schertz, shall be licensed and registered if over five (5) \~ months of age. Dog and/or cat licenses shall be issued by the City Secretary upon payment of their license tax of $1.00 for each male or female dog and/or cat. The owner shall state at the time application is made for such license and upon forms provided for such purposes his name and address and name, breed, color and sex o~ each dog and/or cat owned or kept by him. The provisions of this Section shall not be intended to apply to dogs and/or cats, whose owners are non-residents, temporarily within the City, nor to dogs and/or cats brought into the City for the purpose of participating in any dog and/or cat show, not 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. -1- ~ .4t . . SECTION 3. Tag and Collar. Upon payment of the license fee the City Secretary shall issue to the owner a license certificate and a metallic tag for each dog and/or cat so licensed. The shape of the tag shall be changed every year and shall have a stamp thereon "showing the year for which it was issued and the Uum~er corresponding with number on the certificate. Every owner shall be required to provide each dog and/or cat 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 and/or cat tag is lost or destroyed, a duplicate will be issued by the City Secretary upon presentation of a receipt showing the payment of the license fee for the current year and the payment of a 50~ fee for such duplicate. Dog and/or cat tags shall not be transferable rrom one dog and/or cat to another and no refund shall be made on any dog and/or cat license ree because of death or the dog and/or cat or the owner's leaving the City before expiration of the license. SECTION 4. Impounding. The City Marshall shall designate a special officer to be known and designated as the DOG CATCHER, whose duty it shall be to carry out the terms of this ordinance. It shall be the duty of the DOG CATCHER to apprehend any dog and/or cat found running at large contrary to the provisions of this ordinance and to impound such dog and/or cat in the city pound or other suitable place. The pound master upon receiving any dog and/or cat shall make a complete registry, entering the breed, color and sex of such dog and/or cat and whether licensed. If licensed he shall enter the name and address of the owner and the number of the license tag. SECTION 5. Notice to owner and redemption. Not later than three days after the impounding of any dog and/or cat the owner shall be notified or if the owner of the dog and/or cat is unknown written notice shall be posted for three days at a conspicuous place in the -2- ~e . . J City Hall describing the dog and/or cat and the place and time of taking. The owner of the dog and/or cat so impounded may claim such dog and/or cat upon payment of the license fee, if unpaid, and of all costs and charges incurred by the City of Schertz for impounding and maintenance of said dog and/or cat. Followin~harges shall be paid to the Assessor-collector for impounding any dog and/or cat: For keeping any dog and/or cat- - - -- -- -$1.00 p~day For giving notice - - -- - - - - - - - 2.00 per ~ SECTION 6. Disposition of unclaimed or infected dogs and/or cats. It shall be the duty of the pound master to keep all dogs and/or cats so impounded for a period of five days. If at the expiration of five days from the date of notice to the owner or the posting of notice such dogs and/or cats shall not have been redeemed they may be destroyed. Any unlicensed dog and/or cat required by law to be licensed, or any dog and/or cat which appears to be suffering from rabies or affected with hydrophobia, mange or other infectious or dangerous disease shall not be released, but may be forthwith destroyed. SECTION 7. Confinement of certain dogs and/or cats. N? ~og I 6"- , do 'Yl J. l-1 tJ ,,0.\..+ I ~ ~ <:.. cL+/ <..J Lo1 -t f"11(t v- 11 (.; e VI S ~ <L L In ~ear ? ~d n$ eat in ~8&t, whether licensed or not,~shall be allowed to oX \ / run at large or upon the premises of one other than the owner. If any such dog and/or cat is found running at large in violation of this provision it shall be taken up and impounded and shall not be released except upon approval of the City Secretary after payment of the fees provided in Section 5; provided, however, that if any dog and/or cat so found at large cannot be safely taken up and impounded such dog and/or cat may be slain by any policeman. SECTION 8. Muzzling. Whenever it becomes necessary to safe- guard the public from the dangers of hydrophobia, the Mayor, if he -3- , , . .4t . . deems it necessary shall issue a proclamation ordering every per- son owning or keeping a dog and/or cat to confine it securely on his premises unless such dog and/or cat have a muzzle of sufficient strength to prevent its biting any person. Any unmuzzled dog and/or cat running at large during the time of the proclamation shall be seized and impounded unless noticeably infected with rabies. All dogs and/or cats so noticeably infected with rabies and displaying vicious propensities may be killed by any police officer, without notice to the owner. Dogs and/or cats impounded during theperiof of such proclamation shall, if claimed within five days, be released to the owner, unless infected with rabies, upon payment of the impounding charges provided for in Section 5. If unclaimed after that period such dog and/or cat may be summari- ly destroyed. SECTION 9. Rabies-Notice. If a dog and/or cat is believed to have rabies or has been bitten by a dog and/or cat suspected of having rabies, such dog and/or cat shall be confined by a leash or chain on the owner's premises and shall be placed under the ob- servation of a veterianarian at the expense of the owner for a period of two weeks, The owner shall notify the City Secretary of the fact that his dog and/or cat has been exposed to rabies and at his discretion of the City Secretary is empowered to have such dog andior cat removed from the owner's premises to a veterin- ary hospital and there placed under observation for a period of two weeks at the expense of the owner. It shall be unlawful for any person knowing or suspecting a dog and/or cat to have rabies to allow such dog and/or cat to be taken off his premises or beyond the limits of the City without the written permission of the City Secretary. Every owner or other person upon ascertaining a dog and/or cat .s rabid shall immediately notify the City Marshall who shall either remove the dog and/or cat to the pound if possible, and if not, to summarily destroy it. -4- . '. . : . . . . · .e . . SECTION 10. Vaccination. It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog and/or cat to keep, maintain, or allow such dog and/or cat to run at large unless it shall have been vaccinated by a lic- ensed veterinarian with anti-rabies vaccine. All dogs and/or cats within the City of Schertz, Texas, are hereby required to be vaccin- ated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian on or before ~, -L-, 1959, and each year thereafter at the owner's ex- peJbe. V Before any dog and/or cat license shall be issued by the City Secretary the owner must present a licensed veterinarian's certificate to the effect that the dog and/or cat has been vaccin- ated within the preceeding 90 days. SECTION 11. Penalties. a. Any person who shall willfully take from any dog and/or cat a collar or tag shall be deemed guilty of a misde- meanor and upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not to exceed ~100.00 b. Any person violating any provision of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not exceeding $100.00. This Ordinance shall take effect after its passage and adoption by the City Council and its approval by the Mayor of the City of Schertz, and its publication as required by Article 1013, Rev. Civ. Stat. Texas (1925). PASSED AND APPROVED this . J.vt of --r , 1959. Ma~~ ATTEST: ~~~ City Secretary -5-