Solano County Municipal Code Art. II Animal Control Office

4-30 Establishment of office of animal control

There is hereby created and established the animal control division, supervised by the animal control director, who shall enforce all articles under this chapter. Management and regulation of the county animal shelter shall be the responsibility of animal control.

(Ord. No. 927, §2; Ord. No. 1444, §1)

4-31 Animal control director

Animal Control shall be an operating division under the supervision and control of the Agricultural Commissioner. The animal control director shall be appointed through the regular county civil service system.

(Ord. No. 901, §1; Ord. No. 1444, §1)

4-32 Eligibility requirements for director and deputies

No person shall be eligible to the position of the animal control director or deputy animal control director unless that person is a citizen of the United States and over the age of twenty-one.

(Ord. No. 927, §2; Ord. No. 1444, §1)

4-33 Power and duties

(a) The animal control director and all animal control officers shall, upon appointment and during the tenure of their office, become and be vested with the powers and duties of a public officer of the county, as authorized by Food and Agriculture Code section 7(a), and each shall have the power and it shall be their duty to issue citations and make arrests for violations of any of the provisions of this chapter. The power to arrest shall be those powers granted to a public officer pursuant to Food and Agriculture Code section 7(a) and Penal Code section 836.5. Animal control officers shall be empowered to carry firearms, pursuant to provisions of Penal Code section 2031 (c) (2).

(b) The powers and duties of the animal control director and his deputies shall include the following:

(1) To enforce all provisions of this chapter and all laws of the state relating to the care, treatment and impoundment of animals.

(2) To make arrests for the violation of any of the provisions of this chapter.

(3) To maintain and keep a shelter or other place, as directed by the board of supervisors, where all animals which are subject to impoundment may be kept and safely held.

(4) To enter upon any premises upon which any animal is kept, for the purpose of taking up, seizing or impounding any animal found running at large, staked, herded or grazed, kept or allowed thereon, contrary to the provisions of this chapter, or for the purpose of ascertaining whether such animal is licensed as provided by this chapter; provided, that the animal control director shall make a reasonable effort to notify the occupant of the premises upon which such animal is located in accordance with section 4-42.

(5) Whenever a power is granted to or a duty imposed upon the animal control director or other public officer, the power may be exercised, or the duty may be performed, by an animal control officer, or by a person authorized pursuant to law, unless this chapter expressly provides otherwise.

(6) It is hereby made the duty of the animal control officer to enforce any section of this chapter whether enumerated as a duty or not.

(7) To remove and dispose of the carcass of any animal found on any public highway, street, alley or other public place.

(8) To quarantine animals and to cooperate with the county health officer.

(9) To administer licensing and permit programs as provided for in the chapter.

(10) To abate animal nuisances.

(11) To administer contractual agreements.

(Ord. No. 927, §2; Ord. No. 1444, §1)

4-34 Interference with animal control director or officers

No person shall interfere with the animal control director or the director’s officers in the performance of their duties.

(Ord. No. 927, §2; Ord. No. 1444, §1)

4-35 Misrepresentation

No person shall willfully make a false or misleading statement or representation to the director of animal control or to his or her designee, acting in their official capacity, regarding the ownership or right to custody or control of an animal for which a permit or license is required, or regarding the ownership of an animal redeemed from, relinquished to, impounded by, or taken up by the director pursuant to this chapter.

(Ord. No. 1444, §1)

4-36 Authority to use tranquilizer equipment

In the performance of the director’s duties, the director and each animal control officer shall have the authority to employ the use of tranquilizer equipment and all other animal control devices commonly used by other animal control agencies located within the State of California.

(Ord. No. 1444, §1)

4-37 Animal control officers authorized to carry firearms

Pursuant and subject to section 12031(c) (2) of the Penal Code of the State of California, all animal control officers employed by the County of Solano are authorized to carry firearms when in pursuit of their duties.

(Ord. No. 927, §2; Ord. No. 1444, §1)

4-38 Authority to destroy animals

The director shall have the authority, when a clear and present danger to public safety exists and reasonable means of capture have failed to direct the humane destruction of an animal in the field.

(Ord. No. 1444, §1)

4-39 Badges

The animal control director and animal control officers, while engaged in the execution of their dudes, shall wear, in plain view, a badge having, in the case of the animal control director, the words “animal control director,” and in the case of animal control officers, the words “animal control officer” engraved thereon.

(Ord. No. 927, §2; Ord. No. 1444, §1)