ORDINANCE NO. 657
OF THE CITY OF ELGIN, NEBRASKA
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ELGIN, ANTELOPE COUNTY, NEBRASKA, TO AMEND ORDINANCE § 3-220 OF THE OFFICIAL MUNICIPAL CODE TO REVISE AND PROVIDE FOR EXEMPTIONS TO POSSESSING AND HARBORING A PROHIBITED DOG WITHIN THE MUNICIPAL LIMITS; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT; TO ESTABLISH WHEN THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT; AND TO PROVIDE FOR PUBLICATION OF THIS ORDINANCE IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE LAW.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ELGIN, NEBRASKA:
A. Section 1. Ordinance § 3-220 of the Elgin Municipal Code is hereby amended to read and provide as follows:
SECTION 3-220: DANGEROUS OR POTENTIALLY DANGER-OUS ANIMALS
A. Spaying and Neutering; Microchip /0 and License Required. Any animal judicially determined to be dangerous or administratively determined to be potentially dangerous shall be spayed or neutered and implanted with microchip identification by a licensed veterinarian at the owner’s expense no less than 30 days after such determination is entered with written proof of spaying or neutering and the microchip identification number being provided to the animal control authority within 72 hours of the procedure being completed. In addition, such dangerous or potentially dangerous animal shall be required to be licensed as a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog within 30 days of the determination.
B. Classes Required. The owner of any animal determined to be dangerous or potentially dangerous shall be required to attend, at the owner’s expense, within 90 days after such determination is entered, a responsible pet ownership class approved by the animal control authority and, at the discretion and direction of the animal control authority, a dog behavior class provided or approved by the animal control authority.
C. Warning Signs Required. Any property wherein a dangerous animal is kept, harbored, or confined shall be posted with warning signs visible from all areas of public access. The warning signs must:
1. Be no less than 10 inches by 12 inches in size;
2. Contain the words “Warning; Dangerous Animal” in high contrast lettering on a black background in English; and
3. Have lettering no less than 3 inches high.
D. Confinement. No person owning, harboring or having the care of a potentially dangerous or dangerous animal shall permit such animal to go unconfined on the premises of such person. A dangerous animal is unconfined, as the term is used in this section, if such animal is not:
1. Confined indoors; or
2. Confined outdoors in an enclosed and locked pen or structure upon the premises of the person described above, provided that the existence of such a pen or structure is permitted by building permits or other regulations. Maintenance of a dangerous animal is not permitted in areas where such structures or pens are not authorized by building permits or other regulations. If permitted, such pen or structure shall be:
The pen must be constructed with chain link fencing for all four sides and the top. If the pen or structure has no bottom secured to the sides, the sides must be imbedded in the ground no less than one foot or have a concrete pad for the bottom. The pen or structure shall be set back at least 10 feet from the nearest property line.
E. Muzzle, Leash and Harness Required. It shall be unlawful for any person owning, harboring or having the care of a dangerous or potentially dangerous animal to permit such animal to go beyond the property of such person unless the animal is under the control of a person 19 years of age or older and restrained securely by a harness and leash no longer than 6 feet and properly muzzled to reasonably prevent the animal from biting.
F. Proof of Insurance. Any animal that has been determined to be a dangerous animal or a potentially dangerous animal, and any prohibited dog as defined in subsection (G) below that is required to be licensed under this chapter cannot be licensed unless the person having custody, ownership, or control of such dog or other animal first presents written proof of public liability insurance of not less than $100,000.00 to the animal control authority. Such insurance shall be maintained in effect for the period such dangerous or potentially dangerous animal is so designated, provided that insurance for a prohibited dog as defined in subsection (G) below shall be .maintained in effect for the life of the prohibited dog.
G. Exemptions; Current License. It shall be unlawful for any person to own, keep, possess, control, or harbor a prohibited dog within the municipal limits of the City. This section does not apply to those prohibited dogs which are not permitted to be owned, kept, possessed, controlled, or harbored which were properly licensed with the City pursuant to this chapter as of September 1, 2013. An owner of such dog previously existing within the municipal limits of the city and properly licensed as of September 1, 2013 shall be allowed to own, keep, possess, control, or harbor such dog during such dog’s lifetime, but shall not be permitted to own, keep, possess, control, or harbor any new or additional prohibited dogs. For purposes of this section , “prohibited dog” shall be defined as any dog that is:
1. An American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Presa Canario, Can Corso, American Bulldog, Doberman Pinscher, German Shepard, Alsatian, Alsatian Wolf Dog, Siberian Husky, Chow Chow (Songshi Quan), Malamute, Rotweiler, wolf-dog, wolf-dog hybrid, or wolf hybrid, or
2. Any dog displaying the majority of physical traits of any one or more of the above breeds (more so than any other breed), or
3. Any dog exhibiting those distinguishing characteristics which substantially conform to the standards established by the American Kennel Club or United Kennel Club for any of the above breeds. The A.K.C. and U.K.C. standards for the above breeds are on file in the office of the animal control authority. Testimony by a veterinarian, zoologist, or city animal control officer that a particular dog exhibits distinguishing physical characteristics of a prohibited dog shall establish a rebuttable presumption that the dog is a prohibited dog.
H. Exemptions; Organized Events. A prohibited dog which is a participant in an organized dog event approved by the city authority shall not be so prohibited during such dog’s period of participation in such event, and shall be properly leashed and muzzled at all times when not actively competing in such event.
I. Exemptions; Canine Unit. A prohibited dog which is a trained police dog and utilized by an official law enforcement agency as part of a canine team/unit for law enforcement purposes shall be exempt from all provisions of this chapter and ordinance.
J. Exemptions; Certified Service Dogs. A prohibited dog which is a certified and trained therapy dog, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, shall be exempt from all provisions of this chapter and ordinance upon the filing of a proof of certificate with the City Clerk upon licensing of said dog.
K. Restraint. It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog within the City to fail to keep his/her dog securely restrained or otherwise confined in or upon his premises in an enclosure sufficient to contain the dog. Each animal shall be separately tethered. No animal shall be tethered outdoors in excess of 15 minutes at any one time unless an owner, custodian or person responsible for the animal, 19 years of age or older, is present in the same yard in which the animal is tethered. The tether shall:
1. Be at least five times the length of the animal’s body as measured from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail;
2. Terminate at each end with a swivel;
3. Weigh no more than one-eighth of the animal’s weight;
4. Be free of tangles;
5. Prevent strangulation or injury; and
6. Prevent the animal from being within 15 feet from the edge of any public street or sidewalk; provided, if the tethering method is a trolley system, at least 15 feet in length and less than
7 feet above ground, and meets the foregoing tether requirements, the animal may be tethered outdoors for up to one hour with an owner, custodian or person responsible for the animal, 19 years of age or older, present in the same yard in which the animal is tethered.
L. Sanction and Penalties. In addition to the sanctions which may be imposed by law, any person who fails to keep his/her dog securely restrained or otherwise confined as required by this ordinance shall pay the following penalties as set by the City Council and placed on file in the office of the City Clerk: (1) for first violation ; (2) for the second violation within 24 months of the first violation; and (3) for the third violation within 24 months of the first violation and each subsequent violation thereafter. Such penalties shall be paid to the animal control authority and shall be used for enforcement activities.
B. Section 2. Any other ordinances in conflict with the terms hereof are hereby repealed.
C. Section 3. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect on and after its passage, approval, and publication as provided by State Law.
PASSED AND APPROVED this 2nd day of March, 2020.
BY Mike Schmitt
Mayor
Vicki S. Miller
City Clerk
PUBLISH: March 11, 2020
ZNEZ
