NOTICE
ORDINANCE NO. 525
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ELGIN, NEBRASKA, TO AMEND SUBSECTION D. OF SECTION 3-305 OF THE OFFICIAL MUNICIPAL CODE TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL ANIMALS UNDER THE DEFINITION OF “UNUSUAL ANIMAL”; TO PROVIDE WHEN THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT; AND PROVIDE FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ORDINANCE IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE LAW.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ELGIN, NEBRASKA:
Section 1: That §3-305 of the Official Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
A. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to own, keep, or harbor any unusual animal within the corporate limits of the City, except that this section shall not be construed to prohibit a public zoo, circus, humane society, or carnival from displaying unusual animals as exhibits or to prohibit any wildlife rescue organizations with appropriate permits from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission from rehabilitating or sheltering unusual animals.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person or person to sell, give away, transfer or import into the City any unusual animal as defined in this section, excluding a public zoo from doing business with another public zoo.
C. In the event the city police chief, police officer or other law enforcement officer determines an unusual animal is being owned, kept or harbored by any person in violation of this section, the officer may have such person prosecuted for such violation and shall order such person to remove said unusual animal from the City or destroy it. Such order shall be contained in a written notice to remove or destroy said unusual animal within ten days and shall be delivered in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested. If the owner or person keeping or harboring of such unusual animal shall have failed to remove or destroy such unusual animal after the expiration of ten days from the receipt of said notice and no appeal is taken, the City shall have such unusual animal destroyed .
D. For the purposes of this section the following definitions shall apply:
1. “Unusual animal “ shall mean any poisonous or potentially dangerous animal not normally considered domesticated and shall include animals prohibited by the City or federal requirements, and also:
a . Class Mammalia; order Carnivora, family Felidae (such as lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, bobcats and cougars), except commonly accepted domestic cats and hybrids involving the same; family Canidae (such as wolves, coyotes, and fox), except domesticated dogs and hybrids involving the same; family Mustelidae (such as weasels, martins, fishers, skunks, wolverines, mink and badgers), except ferrets; family Procyonidae (such as raccoons); family Ursidae (such as bears); order Primata (such as monkeys and chimpanzees); and order Chiroptera (such as bats).
b . Poisonous reptiles, cobras, and their allies (Elapidae , Hydrophiidae); vipers and their allies (Croctiladae , Viperidae); boomslangs and Kirkland’s tree snakes; Gila monsters (Heleodermatidae); Sunbeam snakes (Xenopeltidae); Dwarf boas ( Tropidophiidae); Pythons (Pythonidae or Pythoninae); Splitjaw snakes (Bolyeriidae); Old World sand boas (Erycinae); and Boas (Boidae).
2. “Domesticated” shall mean a tame animal that is subject to the dominion and control of an owner or person keeping or harboring said animal and accustomed to living in or near human habitation without requiring extraordinary restraint for the protection of humans or unreasonably disturbing such human habitation.
Section 2 . That this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, approval and publication as provided by state law but no earlier than the 10th day of October , 2012.
Approved and passed by the governing body of the City of Elgin, Nebraska, this 1st day of October, 2012.
CITY OF ELGIN, NEBRASKA
BY Mike Schmitt
MAYOR
(SEAL)
Vicki S. Miller
City Clerk
Publish: October 10, 2012
ZNEZ
