Colfax Municipal Code Ch. 6.08 Dogs

A. The dog license collector is authorized and directed to have prepared suitable application blanks and license tags to be issued to the owners of dogs.

B. Such license tags shall be metallic and shall have a stamp thereon bearing the name of the city or the name of the county when the contract referred to in Section 6.04.010 of this title is in effect and the year of their issuance. The tags shall be numbered serially and each tag shall have its number stamped thereon. Each owner of a dog shall pay to the dog license collector the fees required by the provisions of this chapter within the time provided and shall procure the license and tag and attach the tag to a collar to be permanently worn by the dog for which such license was issued.

C. The application forms shall bear the name, address and telephone number, if any, of the owner of the dog, the name of the dog, if any and the age, sex, color and breed of the dog for which such license is applied. The application shall be signed by the owner or his or her duly authorized agent. Upon the issuance of the license, the dog license collector shall endorse upon the application the number of the license tag issued in pursuance thereof and all such applications so endorsed shall be filed in the office of the dog license collector.

D. It is made the duty of the dog license collector to collect in advance of the issuance of such license the fees required by Section 6.08.020 of this chapter.

(Prior code § 6-1.04)

A. Fees. The owner of any dog over the age of four months shall procure annually a license for such dog between January 1st and April 30th of each year and shall pay two dollars ($2.00) as a license fee.

B. Delinquencies—Penalty Fees. Any person failing to procure and pay for such license before April 30th of any year shall pay an additional sum of two dollars ($2.00) as a penalty for such failure.

C. Delinquencies—Penalty Fees—Exceptions. The additional penalty fee provided for in subsection B of this section shall not apply to the owner of any such dog who brings such dog into the city after April 30th; nor shall such penalty apply in any case where such dog has not arrived at the age of four months on or prior to April 30th if such owner shall procure such license within ten (10) days after such dog shall have attained the age of four months.

(Prior code § 6-1.05)

The license required by the provisions of this chapter shall be issued upon the payment of the fees required for the period commencing January 1st or on the date of such issuance, of each year and no license shall be issued for any other period. Such licenses shall be valid for the calendar year in which issued and thereafter shall be void.

(Prior code § 6-1.06)

The license tag required by the provisions of this chapter shall at all times be attached to the collar of the dog for which it was issued. Any owner who shall wilfully fail, neglect or refuse to attach such tag to such dog after having procured the tag and to keep the tag attached to such dog at all times while such license is in force, shall be in violation of the provisions of this chapter and shall be punishable as set forth in Chapter 1.24 of this code.

(Prior code § 6-1.07)

In the event a license tag shall be lost from any dog for which the tag was issued, the owner, within ten (10) days thereafter, shall procure a new license for such dog for a fee of twenty-five cents ($0.25). License tags shall be so replaced as often as they are lost. Any owner who shall fail to apply for a new license tag within ten (10) days after the date of the loss of the license tag shall be in violation of the provisions of this chapter and shall be punishable as set forth in Chapter 1.24 of this code.

(Prior code § 6-1.08)

When rabies have been declared endemic in the city by proper authorities, it is unlawful for any person owning or having an interest in a dog to cause, permit or allow such dog to be in or upon any public street, alley or other public grounds or place, whether or not restrained by a leash, unless such dog has been vaccinated with a canine rabies vaccine approved by the health officer. The vaccination tag shall at all times be attached to the collar of the dog for which it is issued.

(Prior code § 6-1.09)

A. Any dog having no license tag attached to its collar, whether a license shall have been issued for it or not, shall be captured and impounded by the poundmaster. The poundmaster is also authorized and empowered to capture and impound any dog not vaccinated and licensed as provided for by this chapter or not wearing the official vaccination tag as required by this chapter and which is found going free or running at large in or upon any place within the city.

B. An impounded unlicensed dog shall be kept and maintained by the poundmaster for a period of seventy-two (72) hours, after which, if the dog is not redeemed or otherwise disposed of, it shall be humanely destroyed by the poundmaster. If the dog carries a license, the poundmaster shall keep and maintain the dog for a period of seven days and shall notify the owner thereof of the impounding, either personally or by registered mail, after which, if the dog is not redeemed or otherwise disposed of, it shall be humanely destroyed by the poundmaster.

(Prior code § 6-1.10)

A. Any dog taken up and impounded pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may be redeemed by the owner thereof within the periods set forth in Section 6.08.070 of this chapter upon the payment by such owner of all license fees due, plus the sum of fifteen cents ($0.15) per day for keeping and feeding the dog, the additional sum of ten cents ($0.10) for each mile necessarily and actually traveled by the poundmaster in pursuing, capturing and impounding the dog and a redemption fee of one dollar ($1.00) for the redemption of the dog.

B. When rabies have been declared endemic in the city, any dog so impounded which does not show evidence satisfactory to the health officer of rabies immunization shall not be returned to the owner or legal custodian thereof without first having been immunized for rabies to the satisfaction of the health officer. Such immunization shall be at the sole cost and expense of the owner or person claiming the redemption of the dog.

(Prior code § 6-1.11)

It shall be the duty of any owner of a dog to immediately notify the health officer and the poundmaster of any symptoms or acts of such dog which would lead a reasonable person to suspect that the dog has rabies. It shall thereupon be the duty of the health officer to quarantine the dog. The owner shall thereafter abide by all proper orders for the protection of the public and other dogs from infection by confining the dog and tying it for a period of three weeks, during which time the owner shall allow the health officer to make an inspection or examination. If it shall appear to the health officer upon examination that the dog has rabies, the poundmaster is authorized to kill the dog forthwith.

(Prior code § 6-1.14)