Wheatland Municipal Code Ch. 6.08 Dog Licensing

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall be known and may be referred to in all pleadings and proceedings as the dog license ordinance.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

For the purposes of this chapter, the words set out in this section shall have the following meanings:

"Dog"

means any domesticated animal of the canine family.

"Dog license"

refers to the license required to be issued annually for each individual dog.

"Kennel license"

means an annual business license issued to the owner or proprietor of each kennel wherein more than four dogs are maintained for breeding, training, treating, sale or other commercial purposes.

"Owner"

means any person who controls, harbors, or keeps in his or her possession any dog over the age of four months.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

The owner or owners of dogs, and persons who have dogs in their custody and control or who harbor dogs, shall obtain a dog license and dog license tag from the Yuba County Animal Care Services Division and the owner or person harboring, controlling, or having the custody of any dogs, as provided in this chapter, shall pay to the Yuba County Animal Care Services Division the applicable fees.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

The license tag provided in Section 6.08.030 shall at all times be securely attached to the collar of the dog for which it is issued, and the owner of the dog who willfully fails, neglects, or refuses to attach the tag to the collar and the collar to the dog in such manner as to assure that the license remains attached to the dog at all times while such license is in force shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

In the event a license tag is lost, the owner of the dog for which the license was issued shall within ten days thereafter procure another license for such dog and shall pay the applicable fee for obtaining a replacement license. As often as any license is lost, the same shall be replaced in the same manner as provided in this chapter within the same license year. Any owner who fails to apply for a new license within ten days from the date of the loss of a license tag, or who otherwise violates any provision of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

Any dog having no license tag attached to its collar as provided in Section 6.08.040, whether a license has been issued for it or not, shall be seized and impounded by the police department or the city's designated animal control authority and be subject to all the penalties and requirements for redemption as provided in this title.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

Any dog taken up and impounded under the terms of this title may be redeemed by the owner thereof within seventy-two hours after the dog has been impounded upon the payment by the owner of all license fees due under this title as well as any applicable redemption and other fees applicable to the redemption of the dog.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

Every person owning or controlling a kennel or place where more than four dogs are kept for breeding, training, treating, sale, or other commercial purposes shall pay an annual business license fee set by resolution of the city council for such kennel. Whoever refuses to apply for and pay for the license as required in this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

All kennels, or other places where dogs are kept in the city for breeding, training, treating, sale or other commercial purposes, shall be so constructed as to prevent dogs confined therein from running at large off the premises where the kennel is maintained; and shall be maintained and operated and constructed in a sanitary and proper manner so that the same shall not become a nuisance to the neighborhood thereof by virtue of odor, noise, or other factors. No dog shall at any time be taken from the premises whereon the kennel is operated except on leash and under the control of the owner or agent, and the owner or any agents who shall run or take dogs off the premises of the kennel, or who permit them to be run or taken therefrom except as provided in this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

A. No kennel license shall be issued by the finance department until the police chief or his or her designee has found that the same is operated or is to be operated in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

B. Whenever a dog is removed from any kennel, the owner thereof shall within forty-eight hours apply for and obtain an annual license as otherwise required by this chapter.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

It is unlawful and a misdemeanor for any person to commit any of the following acts:

A. If unauthorized, to remove from any dog any collar or harness or other device to which a license tag is attached for the current year, or to remove such license tag therefrom.

B. To attach to or keep upon, or cause or permit to be attached to or kept upon, any dog a license tag provided by this chapter that was not issued for such dog under the provisions of this chapter, or to attach to or keep upon, or cause or permit to be made or to have in possession any counterfeit or imitation of any tag provided by this chapter.

C. To have, harbor, control or keep, or to cause or permit to be harbored or kept, any unlicensed dog in the city, or to maintain, conduct or operate, or to cause or permit to be maintained or operated in the city, any unlicensed dog kennel.

D. To have, harbor, control or keep, or to cause or permit to be harbored or kept any dog over four months of age that has not been vaccinated for rabies and a certificate for such vaccination issued by a licensed veterinarian or agency authorized to administer rabies vaccination shots.

E. To interfere with, oppose or resist any person authorized under the provisions of this chapter to take up and impound dogs while such person is engaged in the performance of any act authorized by this chapter.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

It shall be the duty of the owner of any dog within the city to immediately notify the police chief of any symptoms or acts of such dog which would lead a reasonable person to suspect that the dog has rabies, and it shall thereupon be the duty of the police chief to contact the city's designated animal control authority to notify such authority to quarantine the dog, and the owner shall thereupon abide by all proper orders for the protection of the public and other dogs from infection by confining the dog for a period of fourteen days, during which time he or she shall allow any authorized official from the board of health or the city's designated animal control authority to make an inspection or examination, and if it appears to such official, upon examination, that the dog has rabies, the animal control authority is authorized to euthanize the dog forthwith.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in this chapter, it shall not be unlawful for any person to bring into the city a dog or dogs, for a period not exceeding twenty days in any one year, which has been licensed by a municipality or other political subdivision of the state; provided, however, the dog shall have the license attached to it as provided in Section 6.08.040 for the attaching of licenses issued under this chapter.

(Ord. 492, 11/28/2023)