Redding Municipal Code Ch. 7.16 Impoundment

The animal-control officer shall be appointed by the city manager, public pound, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, animal control agency, or humane society under contract to provide animal control services for the City of Redding.

(Prior code § 5-27)

(Ord. No. 2635, § 18, 4-6-2021)

Any animal found trespassing upon any private enclosure within the city may be taken by the party owning the enclosure and committed to the animal-control officer, who shall hold the animal subject to reasonable demand for damages, in addition to the fees prescribed in this chapter.

(Prior code § 5-28)

The animal-control officer shall take up and receive into the public pound all stray dogs, all dogs found running at large upon any public street, alley, sidewalk or public place within the city and all such animals as may be left standing and attached to any vehicle without being securely fastened or having some person in charge thereof, and all dogs impounded as a result of a violation of Section 7.12.190 of the Redding Municipal Code. He or she shall hold all animals for a period of not less than seventy-two hours, except those covered by Agriculture Code Section 17003. At the expiration of said time, if unredeemed, the animal-control officer may cause dogs or cats to be destroyed or adopted to a member of the public. Severely injured, seriously ill, or newborn animals unable to feed themselves, may be disposed of sooner.

(Ord. 1533 § 1 (part), 1981)

(Ord. No. 2635, § 19, 4-6-2021)

The animal-control officer shall keep a record of the number and descriptions of all animals taken into his or her custody, with the date of their impounding, and the date and manner of their disposal.

(Prior code § 5-30)

A. The animal-control officer or any police officer of the city is authorized and instructed that where any person arrested for violation of any of the sections designated above as misdemeanors is not immediately taken before a magistrate as more fully set forth in the Penal Code of this state, the arresting officer shall prepare in duplicate a written notice to appear in court, containing the name and address of the person, the offense charged, and the time and place when the person shall appear in court.

B. The time specified in the notice to appear must be at least five days after the arrest.

C. The place specified in the notice to appear shall be before the judge of the judicial district in which the offense is alleged to have been committed.

D. The officer shall deliver one copy of the notice to appear to the arrested person, and the arrested person in order to secure release must give his or her written promise to appear in court by signing the duplicate notice which shall be retained by the officer. Thereupon, the arresting officer shall forthwith release the person arrested from custody.

E. The officer shall, as soon as practicable, file the duplicate notice with the magistrate specified in the notice.

F. Any person willfully violating his written promise to appear in court is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine of not to exceed five hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, regardless of the disposition of the charge upon which he was originally arrested.

G. When a person signs a written promise to appear at the time and place specified in the written promise to appear and has not posted bail as provided in Section 853.6(e) of the Penal Code of the state, the magistrate shall issue and have delivered for execution a warrant for his arrest within twenty days after his failure to appear as promised.

H. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed or construed to require any arresting officer to issue a citation instead of taking the person arrested before a magistrate as otherwise provided by law.

I. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed or construed to affect Section 7.16.050 or 7.16.070.

(Ord. 1406 § 1, 1978)

(Ord. No. 2635, § 20, 4-6-2021)

A. If the owner, or any other person, within a period of seventy-two hours, desires to redeem a dog or cat impounded, he may do so upon payment to the animal-control officer of the cost of caring for the animal and, in addition, a fee based on the number of times the animal has been impounded, as follows:

1. Ten dollars for the first time;

2. Twenty dollars for the second time within one year;

3. Twenty-five dollars for each time after the second time, within one year;

4. The fee for redemption of a dangerous or vicious animal shall be twenty-five dollars for each and every time the animal is impounded, in addition to the cost of caring for the animal.

B. If an impounded dog does not have a current city license, said license fee must be paid prior to release of the dog. In addition, if a rabies vaccination is required, the dog may be vaccinated, at a cost to be borne by the owner, prior to release.

C. The animal-control officer shall keep a record by description, license tag number on dogs, name of owner and date of redemption of each dog or cat that is redeemed from the pound and on subsequent redemptions of the same animal, the animal-control officer shall make due record of each impounding redemption and amount of redemption fees paid.

(Ord. 1960 § 1, 1991; Ord. 1533 § 1 (part), 1981)

(Ord. No. 2635, § 21, 4-6-2021)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 2635, § 22, adopted April 6, 2021, repealed § 17.16.080, which pertained to the destruction of unredeemed animals, and derived from the prior Code § 5-34.