0354CITY OF SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS
ORDINANCE NO. 354
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS, AMENDING ORDINANCE NO.
254 BY PROVIDING PROVISIONS ADDRESSING
ANIMALS BITING, ~SCRATCHING OR ATTACKING ANY
PERSON OR OTHER ANIMAL; PROVIDING A PENALTY
NOT TO EXCEED mHE SUM OF TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS
($200.00) FOR ~EACH OFFENSE; PROVIDING A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY
AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
W~EREAS, the City Council, City of Southlake, denies to
establish regulations governing animals which bite, scratch, or
attack people or other animals;
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 254, the animal control ordinance
of the City of Southlake, does not address such animal behavior
and its consequences;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS:
Section 1. That each and every one of the recitals,
findings and determinations contained in the preamble of this
Ordinance are hereby repeated and incorporated herein as due,
pr¢oer and formal findings and determinations of the City
Council.
Section 2. That Ordinance No. 254, City of Southlake,
shall be amended as follows and all other sections,
subsections, paragraphs, sentences, definitions, phrases and
words of said ordinance are not amended, but shall remain
intact and are hereby ratified, verified, and affirmed:
A. Sections 9 through 12 of Ordinance No. 254 are
hereby renumbered as Sections 10 through 13 respectively.
B. A new section, titled Section 9, shall be added
between Section 8 of Ordinance No. 254 and the newly renumbered
Section 10.
The new section shall read as follows:
(a) Every ovrner
responsible for preventing
or ~tt~eking ~ny per,on
harborer shall be guilty
or harborer of any animal is
said animal from biting, scratching
or other animal. Every owner or
of violating this ordinance if the
animal owned or harbored bites, scratches or attacks any person
or other animal when:
(1) The bite, scratch or attack was unprovoked;
(2)
The person or other animal bitten,
scratched or attacked was not, in the case
of a person, trespassing on the property of
the owner or harborer or was not, in the
cas~ / of an animal, running at large in
violation of this ordinance; and
(3)
The owner or harborer of said animal failed
to take all reasonable steps to prevent the
bite, scratch or attack, or the owner or
harborer had knowledge of the dangerous or
vicious propensities of said animal.
(b) For purposes of this section, knowledge of the
dangerous or vicious propensities of an animal shall be
presllmed upon proof that said animal has, on any prior
occasion, bitten, scratched or attacked any person or other
animal.
(c) It shall be unlawful to own, keep or harbor or
have control of any animal that is dangerous or vicious. An
animal shall be considered to be dangerous or vicious when it
has bitten, scratched or attacked any person or other animal,
ca_=ing bodily injury to said person or other animal and when
the bite, scratch or attack was unprovoked.
(d) BAy animal that the animal warden has determined
to be dangerous or vicious which has been impounded pursuant to
this ordinance shall remain impounded pending the final outcome
of the procedures set out in the following subsections.
(e) The owner or harborer of any animal that the
animal warden has determined to be dangerous or vicious shall
be notified that the animal shall be removed from the city
limits or be placed with a person who has facilities to control
the animal within ten (10) days of the date such notice is
sent. If the animal has been impounded by the animal warden,
the animal shall be transported hereunder by the animal warden
and shall not be returned to the owner or harborer for s6ch
purposes. Unless the true address of the owner or harborer is
known to the animal warden, notice under this subsection shall
be sufficient if sent to the address shown on the latest
vaccination certificate, if any, showing vaccination of the
animal in question.
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(f) Any owner or harborer notified under the preceding
subsection may, within said ten-day period, give notice in
writing to the animal warden that the animal is not dangerous
or vicious.
(g) Immediately upon receipt of notice under the
preceding subsection, the animal warden shall notify the
director of health, wh) shall set a date for hearing the
reasons presented by the'owner or harborer and shall notify the
owner or harborer of the hearing date.
(h) If the director of health finds that the facts
presented by the owner or harborer fail to show the animal is
not dangerous or vicious, the animal shall immediately be
removed from the city limits or placed with a person who has
facilities to control the animal, and if the owner or harborer
fails to do so, the animal warden may impound the animal and so
remove or so place the animal or the animal warden may destroy
the animal. If the animal has been impounded by the animal
warden, the animal shall be transported hereunder by the animal
~arden and shall not be returned to the owner or harborer for
such purposes.
(i) No placement or destruction of the animal by the
animal warden under the preceding subsection shall occur sooner
that five (5) days after the date the director of health makes
his findings. The owner or harborer may, within said five-day
period, seek to enjoin enforcement of the director's decision
in an appropriate court. Notice of any proceeding, if received
by the director of health within the said five-day period,
shall stay the director's decision pending the outcome of such
proceeding; provided, however, the filing of any such
proceeding shall not entitle the owner or harborer to the
return of the animal in question.
(j) Any animal impounded by the animal warden
hereunder shall be kept, cared for and fed at the expense and
risk of the owner or harborer of said animal.
(k) Unless otherwise specified, any notice required by
this section shall be sufficient if sent by certified mail,
return receipt requested, or in any other manner likely to give
actual notice.
(1) Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the
owner or harborer from giving his consent, at any time, to the
destruction or placement of an animal consistent with this
section.
Section 3. Any person violating any of the provisions of
this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon
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