6.20.070 Menacing and aggressive animals—Animal owner and property owner responsibility.
A. It is unlawful for any person to keep, harbor, or maintain any aggressive or menacing animal which threatens, harasses, or intimidates a person who is peaceably and lawfully upon public or private property, unless it is contained in an enclosure of a construction adequate to keep it securely confined and prevent its escape.
B. It is unlawful for any person to permit any animal owned, harbored, or controlled by him or her to attack and cause severe bodily injury or death to another domestic or captive animal while off the property of its owner or keeper.
C. Upon notification of a violation of subsection A of this section, the animal owner(s) must immediately confine the animal to an enclosure or location which mitigates the aggressive and menacing behavior.
D. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
1. “Aggressive animal” means any animal whose observable behavior causes a person observing that behavior reasonably to believe that the animal may attack a person or another animal without provocation.
2. “Menacing animal” means any animal which, through its behavior, causes a person observing or subject to that behavior to be in reasonable fear for his or her safety, or the safety of animals kept by him or her. Police or military service canines being utilized in an official capacity are excluded from this definition.
3. “Severe bodily injury” means any physical injury which results in deep lacerations with separation of subcutaneous tissues, muscle tears or lacerations, fractures or joint dislocations, or permanent impairment of locomotion or special senses.
E. Penalties for violation:
1. Three hundred fifty dollars for the first violation.
2. Seven hundred dollars for the second violation of subsection A or B of this section within one year.
3. One thousand dollars for each additional violation of subsection A or B of this section within one year.
4. For the purposes of this section, a first violation of subsection A of this section will be deemed to have occurred if the menacing or aggressive animal is not confined as required by subsection C of this section within twenty-four hours of notification; a separate violation of subsection A of this section shall be deemed to exist for each twenty-four-hour period following notification in which an animal’s menacing or aggressive behavior continues unmitigated.
5. Where criminal enforcement of this section is pursued, any violation of this section shall be deemed a misdemeanor, notwithstanding Section 1.12.060.
F. Liability of Property Owners. Owners of properties upon which a tenant keeps, harbors, or maintains any aggressive or menacing animal may, along with the animal owner(s), be jointly and severally liable for penalties related to violations of subsection A of this section, provided that they have received at least fourteen days’ prior written notice of the existence of such violation and the violation has not been abated. No penalty shall be imposed upon the property owner if the property owner can demonstrate, within fourteen days following notification that a violation has occurred, that the property owner has initiated action to abate the illegal activity on the property. (Ord. 1581 § 1, 2012)