TOWN OF RUTLAND
DOG ORDINANCE
Pursuant
to 20 V.S.A. § 3549, 24 V.S.A. § 2291(10) and 24 V.S.A. § 1971
the following ordinance is promulgated in order to regulate the keeping of dogs
in the Town of Rutland. This ordinance
is designated as a civil ordinance pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 1971(b).
Section 2. Definitions:
(A) Dog: Includes both male and female domestic dogs
(Canis Familiaris) and wolf-hybrids as defined in 20 V.S.A. § 3545(8)
(B) Dog Creating a Nuisance: A dog which causes damage to personal
property, harasses a pedestrian, bicyclist or other passer-by, obstructs
traffic, barks excessively, or repeatedly scatters refuse, or otherwise becomes
a nuisance or creates a disturbance.
(C) Dog Running at Large: A dog which is not on the property of its
owner or keeper and is not (1) on a leash, or (2) on or within a vehicle, or
(3) clearly under the verbal command of its owner or keeper, or (4) engaged in
hunting with its owner or keeper.
(D) Domestic Animal: An animal
identified in 6 V.S.A. § 1151(2).
Where applicable, the definitions of particular animals provided by 6
V.S.A. § 1151 shall control. The
term domestic animal shall also include an animal defined as a domestic pet or
pet by 20 V.S.A.§ 3541(3).
(E) Issuing Municipal Official: A constable of the Town of Rutland, the town
attorney, town grand juror, poundkeeper and any other person designated by the
Board of Selectmen to issue and pursue before the Traffic and Municipal
Ordinance Bureau a municipal complaint to enforce this ordinance.
(F) Owner
or Keeper: Any person(s) who owns,
harbors, keeps, or permits any dog to be kept in or about their buildings or
premises; or who is in actual or constructive possession of a dog in the Town
of Rutland.
(G)Person:
A natural person, corporation, partnership, unincorporated association, or
other legal entity; or an agent thereof.
(H) Pound and Poundkeeper: The pound and poundkeeper shall be that
place and that person, respectively, designated from time to time by the
Selectmen of the Town of Rutland to detain dogs seized by an issuing municipal
official in the enforcement of this Ordinance.
(I) Vicious Dog: A dog which causes reasonable fear of bodily
injury by attacking or threatening to attack any domestic animal or any person,
except a person who is in the act of committing unlawful (criminal) trespass or
other criminal act upon the private property or person of the owner or keeper
of the dog.
(J) A
person who is the owner of a dog more than six months old shall annually on or
before April 1 cause the dog to be licensed as required by 20 V.S.A., Chapter
193, Subchapter 2. The failure of a dog
owner to comply with 20 V.S.A., Chapter 193, Subchapter 2 shall constitute a
violation of this Ordinance.
Section 4. Nuisances prohibited
(K) An
owner or keeper shall not permit a dog to create a nuisance as defined in
Section 2(B).
(L) An
owner or keeper shall not allow a dog to run at large within the limits of the
Town of Rutland as defined in Section 2(C).
(M) A
person shall not own or keep a vicious dog as defined in Section 2(I), except
upon such terms and conditions as ordered by the Board of Selectmen.
(N) An
owner or keeper shall not permit a female dog in heat to be outside of a
building or a secured enclosure.
Section 8.
Complaint procedure; hearing
(O) (A) A person who claims that a dog is a
vicious dog or is a dog creating a nuisance may file a written complaint with
the Board of Selectmen. The complaint
shall contain the name, address and telephone number of the complainant, the
time, date and place of each occurrence relied upon in support of the claim, an
identification of the domestic animal threatened or attacked, the name and
address of any victim or victims and any other facts which may assist the Board
of Selectmen in conducting the investigation required by Subsection B of this
section.
(P) (B) The Board of Selectmen, upon
receiving the complaint, shall investigate the charges and hold a hearing on
the matter. The Selectmen may also hold
such a hearing on their own motion, without receiving a complaint, if they have
reason to believe a dog is vicious or is creating a nuisance. If the owner or keeper of the dog which is
the subject of the hearing can be ascertained, the owner or keeper shall be
provided with a written notice of the time, date and place of hearing and the
facts of the complaint.
(Q) (C) Following the hearing, the Board of
Selectmen shall issue a determination as to whether the dog is a vicious dog as
defined in Section 2(I) or is a dog creating a nuisance as defined in Section
2(B). Upon so finding, the Selectmen may
issue an order for the protection of persons, domestic animals, and/or property
as the facts and circumstances of the case may require; including, without
limitation, that the dog be muzzled, chained, confined or disposed of in a
humane way. If the owner or keeper of
the dog can be ascertained, the order shall be sent to the owner or keeper by
certified mail, return receipt requested.
(R) (D) Nothing contained in Section 8 shall
require proceedings before or an order from the Board of Selectmen as a
precondition to enforcement of this Ordinance by an issuing municipal official
pursuant to Sections 10 through 14 (inclusive) of this Ordinance.
(S) A
violation of or failure to comply with an order of the Board of Selectmen
issued pursuant to this Ordinance shall itself constitute a violation of this
Ordinance.
(T) (A) Where an issuing municipal official
finds a dog to be in violation of this Ordinance or of an order of the
Selectmen, the issuing municipal official may impound the dog at the Town pound
and/or may issue to the owner or keeper of the dog a municipal complaint
pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 1977.
(U) (B) Upon the filing of a complaint under
Section 8(A), an issuing municipal official may impound a dog which is claimed
to be a vicious dog pending a determination of the Board of Selectmen pursuant
to Section 8(C).
Section 11. Reasonable methods for capture authorized
(V) An
issuing municipal official may use all reasonable methods, including the use of
tranquilizing and marking apparatus, for catching and impounding dogs claimed
to be vicious pursuant to Section 8(A) or found to be in violation of this
Ordinance or of an order of the Selectmen.
(W) In the
event that a dog is impounded, the procedure for securing the release of a dog
from the pound shall be as follows:
(A) Upon delivery to the pound, the
issuing municipal official shall notify the dog owner, if the dog is licensed
and has identifying tags. Notice shall
be sufficient if given to its owner by certified mail. The dog shall be held for five (5) working
days unless claimed earlier.
(B) If the dog is unlicensed, the
issuing municipal official shall notify the owner or keeper, if known, and
shall post a notice containing a description of the dog on a bulletin board in
the Town Clerk's office for five (5) working days.
(C) If the owner does not claim the dog
within five (5) working days, the dog shall be given to whomever pays all
charges, costs, and fees as provided in Section 12(A).
(D) If no person claims the dog within
five (5) working days of the mailing of the certified notice or posting, then
the Town may cause the dog to be humanely destroyed.
(E) The owner or keeper of any impounded
dog shall not remove the dog from the pound until it is properly licensed and
proof is given to the poundkeeper and to the issuing municipal official of the
administration of any immunization or shots as required by law, including, but
not limited to, rabies inoculation.
(F) Where a dog is claimed to be vicious
is impounded pursuant to Section 10(B), the owner or keeper shall not remove
the dog from the pound except on such terms and conditions as ordered by the
Board of Selectmen.
(G) Where the Board of Selectmen have
determined an impounded dog to be vicious pursuant to Section 8(C), the owner
or keeper shall not remove the dog from the pound except on such terms and
conditions as ordered by the Board of Selectmen; however, the foregoing
provision as to release from the pound shall not apply to a vicious dog which
the Selectmen have ordered to be humanely destroyed.
(A) The owner or keeper of a dog which
has been impounded or a person claiming an impounded dog pursuant to Section
11(C), shall not remove such dog from the pound until he or she has paid: the poundkeeper's charges for taking and
keeping the dog; an impoundment fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) to the Town, to
cover the administrative costs of enforcing this Ordinance; any license fees;
and the cost of any immunization or shots as required by law including, but not
limited to, rabies inoculation.
(B) Each impoundment fee and any
expenses the Town incurs in impounding, keeping or humanely destroying any such
dog shall be a charge and claim of the Town against the owner or keeper of such
dog, collectible by action of the Town and the Town shall have a lien on such
animal for such fee and all expenses so incurred.
Section 14. Violations and penalties
(A) A civil penalty of not more than $500
may be imposed for a violation of this civil ordinance. Each day that the violation continues shall
constitute a separate violation of this Ordinance.
(B) An issuing municipal official is
authorized to recover by the issuance of a municipal complaint, civil penalties
in the following amounts for each violation of this Ordinance:
First Violation $50
Second Violation $100
Third Violation $300
Fourth and Subsequent Violations $500
(C) In lieu of the civil penalties
provided in Section 13(B), an issuing municipal official is authorized to
recover a waiver fee in the following amount, from any person to whom a
municipal complaint is issued, who declines to contest the municipal traffic
complaint and pays the waiver fee:
First Violation $25
Second Violation $50
Third Violation $150
Fourth and Subsequent Violations $250
(D) Other Relief. In addition to the enforcement procedures
available before the Traffic and Municipal Ordinance Bureau, the Town of
Rutland may pursue any remedy authorized by law, including without limitation,
the maintenance of a civil action in superior court pursuant to 24 V.S.A. §
1974a(b) to obtain injunctive and other appropriate relief.
Severability. The provisions of this Ordinance are
severable. If any provision of this
Ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstances or within any part
of the Town is held invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent
jurisdiction, the invalidity shall not apply to any other portion of this
Ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
application thereof.
The
Town's previous Dog Ordinance, as amended, and designated as Chapter 125,
§ 125-1 through § 125-11 of the Code of the Town of Rutland, is
hereby repealed effective as of the effective date of this Ordinance.
This
Ordinance shall become effective sixty days after adoption as provided in 24
V.S.A. § 1972.
This
Ordinance is hereby adopted this June 1, 1999.
RUTLAND TOWN, VERMONT BOARD OF SELECTMEN
Rodney
T. Gallipo, Chairman
Karen
Bossi, Clerk
John
Paul Faignant
William
T. Matteson
Richard
J. Del Bianco