Visalia Municipal Code Ch. 6.08 Animal Protection and Control Regulations Generally

It is unlawful for the owners or persons having custody of any animal to permit, either willfully or through failure to exercise due care or control, any cruel acts upon said animal. Cruel acts are defined as follows:

A. To place, leave or expose, making accessible to animals, any poisonous substance;

B. To have, keep, or harbor any animal which is infected with any dangerous or incurable or painfully crippling condition, except as hereinafter provided. All such diseased or crippled animals with an incurable ailment taken into custody of the city shall be transferred to the Poundmaster for impoundment. This section shall not apply to animals within veterinary hospitals or under the care of a veterinarian, or having been diagnosed with any common, incurable disease where impoundment or quarantine is not recommended by a doctor of veterinary medicine;

C. To fail, refuse or neglect to provide any animal in their charge or custody as owner or otherwise, with food, drink, shade or weatherproof housing facilities, or to carry any animal in or upon any vehicle in a cruel or inhumane manner;

D. To willfully, or maliciously kill, maim, disfigure, tease, torture, beat with a stick, chain, club or other

object, mutilate, burn, scald with any substance, over-drive or otherwise cruelly set upon any animal, except that a reasonable force may be employed to drive off vicious or trespassing animals;

E. To hobble livestock or other animals by means of chains which are composed of tempered or other permanent wire links;

F. To drive or work any animal in a cruel manner when such animal is unfit for such work;

G. To promote, stage, hold, manage, conduct, carry on or attend any game, exhibition, contest, or fight in which one or more animals are engaged for the purpose of injuring, killing, maiming or destroying themselves or any other animal or person;

H. No person or business shall give away any live vertebrate animal as a prize for, or as an inducement to enter, any contest, game or other competition, or as an inducement to enter a place of amusement or offer such vertebrate as an incentive to enter into any business agreement whereby the offer was for the purpose of attracting trade;

I. No person shall keep upon any premises, any animals, including any fowl or household pets in a foul, offensive, obnoxious, filthy or unsanitary condition.

(Ord. 2019-09 § 2, 2019; prior code § 4589)

A. Any person owning or having charge, custody, care or control of any animal (except cats) kept or harbored in the city shall confine such animal exclusively upon such owner's premises, except when otherwise properly restrained as hereinafter provided.

B. No person shall allow or permit any animal (except that are spayed or neutered or currently licensed by the City of Visalia cats) to run at large, or be pastured, herded, staked, or tied in or on any public alley, street sidewalk, vacant lot, school grounds, or other public place belonging to or under the control of the city or in such a way as to trespass in any manner upon any of the aforesaid public places.

C. No person shall permit any animal (except that are spayed or neutered or currently licensed by the City of Visalia cats) to be at large or to go or be upon the premises owned or occupied by any other person in the city without said person's consent.

D. All dogs shall be kept under restraint at all times, otherwise they will be classed as running at large.

E. Any animal (except that are spayed or neutered or currently licensed by the City of Visalia cats) permitted to be at large or trespassing upon private premises or public property in violation of this section shall be deemed prima facie to be under the control of the animal’s owner and is declared to be a public nuisance and menace to public health and safety, and shall be seized and impounded as provided in this title.

F. No owners shall fail to exercise proper care and control of their animals, (except cats) to prevent them from becoming a public nuisance. Excessive continuous or untimely barking, or other noise, molesting passersby, chasing vehicles, habitually attacking other domestic animals, trespassing upon private property in such manner as to damage property, shall be deemed a public nuisance.

G. Every female dog or cat in heat shall be confined in a building or secure enclosure in such manner that such female dog or cat cannot come into contact with another animal except for planned breeding.

H. No persons shall keep or permit to be kept on their premises any wild, exotic, or vicious animal for display or for exhibition purposes, whether gratuitously or for a fee. This section shall not be construed so as to apply to a zoological garden, commercial animal establishment, theatrical exhibit or circus as defined in Section 6.04.010, except that no theatrical exhibit or act shall be held in which animals are encouraged to perform through the use of chemical, electrical, or mechanical devices.

I. No person shall keep or permit to be kept any wild animal as a pet. (Ord. 2019-09 § 2, 2019; Ord. 9605 § 20 (part), 1996; prior code § 4623)

It is declared a public nuisance for any animal, except cats that are spayed or neutered or currently licensed by the City of Visalia, to run at large or to be on property other than that of the owner of the animal, without the property owner's consent.

A. Wherever any animal control officer or peace officer finds a public nuisance to exist within the meaning of this chapter, they shall notify the owner of the animal by registered mail that the owner shall either abate said nuisance within ten days or show cause why said nuisance should not be summarily abated.

B. If said nuisance is not abated and no show of cause is made, the animal control officer may then

issue a citation to the owner of the animal or may impound the animal which is creating the nuisance. Any animal so impounded shall be taken to the Visalia City Animal Shelter.

C. In lieu of acting under divisions A. or B. above, the Poundmaster may determine that any at large cat that has not been spayed or neutered may be seized by an animal control officer or captured in a humane manner by a private citizen and submitted to the Visalia Animal Care Center to be neutered or spayed and vaccinated. After being altered the cat may then be released in the area where it was found at the discretion of the animal control services division operating such a spay/neuter and release program as a means to help control the community cat population. acting under the authority of this section shall be at the discretion of the Poundmaster.

(Ord. 2019-09, § 2, 2019; prior code § 4624)

It is unlawful for the owner of a dog to allow or permit the dog to attack pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles or other users of the public highways.

(Ord. 2019-09, § 2, 2019; prior code § 4625)

In addition to household pets, no person shall allow or permit any other animals or fowl, except cats that are spayed or neutered or currently licensed by the City of Visalia, to run at large upon any public street or place, or to trespass upon the property of another. This provision shall not be construed as permitting the running at large of any household pets who are restricted by the provisions of this title, or by any law applicable thereto.

(Ord. 2019-09, § 2, 2019; prior code § 4626)

It is unlawful for any person to suffer, or permit any dog, cat or other animal owned, harbored or controlled by him, to inflict upon any human being a bite that penetrates the skin while the person bitten is on any public place, or legally upon any private property. The person bitten may request the animal control officer to initiate criminal proceedings against such other person by submitting a signed, written complaint.

(Ord. 2019-09, § 2, 2019; prior code § 4627)

It shall be unlawful and a misdemeanor for any individual or entity to bring, have, keep, or maintain, within the city, at any time between the first day of June and the first day of October, in any year, any swarm or swarms, colony or colonies of honey bees. (Ord. 9517 § 1 (part), 1995: prior code § 6750)

Any swarm or swarms, colony or colonies of honey bees so brought, had, kept or maintained, within the city at any time between the first day of June and the first day of October in any year, shall constitute a public nuisance. (Ord. 2017-07 § 2, 2017: Ord. 9517 § 1 (part), 1995: prior code § 6751)

A. Except as provided in subsection (B) of this section, removal and disposal of dead animals from public property will be done by the animal control officer.

B. Removal and disposal of dead animals from private property within the city limits will be done upon request of the owner, occupant or resident of the property. The fee for this service shall be set by resolution of the city council. The owner or person in charge of any dead animal shall pay the fee. The animal control officer shall not be required to remove and dispose of dead dogs from state highways or from state property or federal property within the city.

C. Upon learning that the body of a dead animal has not been disposed of in a safe and sanitary manner the animal control officer shall remove and dispose of said carcass immediately. The owner, occupant, or resident of the property shall be billed the applicable fee and the cost of the animal control officer responding to the incident.

(Ord. 2019-09, § 2, 2019; prior code § 4628)

The owners of any animal shall be responsible for the removal of any excreta deposited by their animal(s) on public walks, recreation areas, or private property. (Prior code § 4629)

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no service animal trained to work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability shall be confined, impounded, or humanely terminated in the absence of evidence that such dog has been exposed to rabies unless the master of such dog:

A. Fails to keep the dog safely confined to the premises of the master; or

B. Fails to keep the dog vaccinated against rabies.

(Ord. 2019-09, § 2, 2019; prior code § 4630)

It is unlawful for any person to abandon any animal within the city. In addition to any fines imposed by law, any person violating this section shall bear full costs and expenses incurred by the city in the care of said abandoned animal and shall reimburse to the city all said costs set annually by resolution of the City Council.

(Ord. 2019-09, § 2, 2019; prior code § 4631)

It is unlawful for any person to willfully or maliciously torture, tease, torment, beat, kick, strike, mutilate, injure, disable or kill any dog used by the city police department, or any other law enforcement agency while engaged in mutual aid assistance to this city, or the designated handlers of such animals, while any such dog is in the performance of the functions or duties of the police department or other law enforcement agency, or to willfully interfere with or obstruct any such dog while it is being used in the performance of any of the duties or functions of the department or other law enforcement agency. (Prior code § 5250)

No provisions of this chapter shall be construed to prohibit any act made unlawful by any general law of the state of California, but said chapter is intended to be supplemental thereto. (Prior code § 5251)