Yolo County Municipal Code Art. 3 Definitions

For the purposes of this chapter, unless the provisions or the context indicates otherwise, the terms and words defined in this article shall have the meaning set forth in this article. (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974)

“Agricultural Commissioner” shall mean the Agricultural Commissioner of the County. (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974)

“Animal Control Center” shall mean the facilities provided by the County for the impounding of animals. (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974)

“At large” shall mean an animal that, with or without the consent of its owner, is off the premises of its owner and not under restraint by leash, or that is not under the control and in the immediate presence of its owner or his or her agent.(§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974, as amended by § 2, Ord. 1365, eff. December 6, 2007)

“Chief of the Animal Control Division” shall mean the person designated by the Sheriff as the Chief of the Animal Control Division for the County and his or her duly authorized deputies. (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974, as amended by § 4, Ord. 1061, eff. November 26, 1987)

“Dog” shall mean any domesticated animal of the canine family, excluding domesticated coyotes, foxes, dingoes, wolves, or other wild species of the same, as well as all hybrids thereof, which are defined separately in this Title as “wolf hybrids.” (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974, as amended by § 2, Ord. 1365, eff. December 6, 2007)

“Health Officer” shall mean the Health Officer of the County and any Health Department employee or other person duly authorized by the Health Officer to act on his behalf. (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974)

“Kennel” shall mean any enclosure, premises, building, structure, lot or area, except where reasonably necessary to support an agricultural use (i.e., to contain herding dogs), where five (5) or more dogs or other small domestic animals, as defined in Title 8, which are not sick or injured and are ten (10) weeks in age or older are boarded for compensation, cared for, trained for compensation, kept for sale, or bred for sale, or ten (10) or more dogs or other small domestic animals that are ten (10) weeks of age or older which are kept and maintained as pets, “rescue” animals, or for any other non-commercial purpose. (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974, as amended by § 2, Ord. 1365, eff. December 6, 2007)

“Owner” shall mean a person who possesses, has title to, or an interest in, harbors, or has control, custody, or possession of an animal, and the verb forms of “to own” shall include all these shades of meaning. (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974)

“Person” shall mean any person, firm, company, corporation, partnership, or association. (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974)

“Vaccination” shall mean the inoculation of a dog with canine anti-rabies vaccine approved by and in the manner prescribed by the Department of Public Health of the State. (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974)

“Veterinarian” shall mean a person licensed by the State to practice veterinary medicine. (§ 2, Ord. 703, eff. May 22, 1974)

“Vicious animal” shall mean any dog or other animal, except a dog assisting a peace officer in law enforcement duties, which has attacked any person or other animal, without provocation by such person or other animal, at a place other than on private property where the attacking animal is maintained by its owner. (§ 1, Ord. 950, eff. June 2, 1983, as amended by § 2, Ord. 1365, eff. December 6, 2007)

“Wolf hybrid” shall mean a mammal that, based on substantial evidence, is determined to be the offspring of any species of wild canid or wild canid hybrid and a domestic dog or a wild canid hybrid, or any mammal that is represented by its owner to be a wolf hybrid. “Wolf hybrid” includes hybrids of wolves, coyotes, dingoes, foxes, or any other kind of wild canid. Substantial evidence used to identify wolf hybrids may include the opinion of an expert in wolf hybrid identification. (§ 2, Ord. 1365, eff. December 6, 2007)