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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 182 1993 1103ORDINANCE NO. 182_ AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, DELETING EXISTING CHAPTER 6.16 ENTITLED "DOG LICENSING" FROM, AND ADDING NEW CHAPTER 6.16 ENTITLED "LICENSING OF CATS AND DOGS" TO, AND REVISING SECTION 6.20.010 AND SECTION 6.20.020 OF, THE MOORPARK MUNICIPAL CODE. WHEREAS, it is deemed to be in the best interest of public health, safety and general welfare to include cats in the licensing practices of the City, which currently pertain to dogs, in order to control the rabies virus, to control the cat population, and to assist owners in identifying their lost cats when they have been impounded; NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Moorpark Municipal Code is hereby amended by deleting Chapter 6.16, entitled "Dog Licensing ", in its entirety. SECTION 2. The Moorpark Municipal Code is hereby amended by adding Chapter 6.16, entitled "Licensing of Cats and Dogs ", to read as follows: 6.16.010 REQUIRED A. Every person who owns, harbors or keeps any cat or dog over the age of four ( 4 ) months within the corporate boundaries of the City for thirty (30) days or longer shall maintain a current license and license tag issued under the provisions of this chapter for each cat I.Ax:66162. z or dog. B. The license tag shall be attached to a substantial collar or harness which shall be worn at all times by the cat or dog for which the tag was issued, except as provided in Section 6.16.010 (C) or Section 6.16.080 of this chapter. C. Cats with electronic identification, in the form of microchip implants or other forms of permanent identification approved and issued by the City or its agent, shall not be required to wear a collar and tag. All other licensing requirements of this chapter shall apply to such cat. D. Every person who violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of an infraction. E. Any dog found without a current license tag may be taken up and impounded by the pound master or any peace officer. Any cat found without a current license tag or without electronic identification or for which there is no current license may be taken up and impounded by the pound master or any peace officer. 6.16.020 APPLICATION A. The license and license tag or electronic identification required by this chapter may be obtained by displaying an acceptable rabies LAX:66162.2 2 vaccination certificate, furnishing the information required herein, and paying the proper fee to the City or its agent. Such information shall include the name, sex, breed, age and color of the dog or cat for which the application is made, and the address and, when available, the telephone number of the person owning, harboring or keeping the dog or cat. The official receiving such information shall record it on the receipt to be given for payment of the license fee. B. A rabies vaccination certificate, to be acceptable, must show that the vaccination has at least one (1) year to run before its expiration date. A vaccination of the chick - embryo type expires thirty (30) months after it is administered and a vaccination of the nerve - tissue type expires eighteen (18) months after it is administered. The expiration date of the rabies vaccination shall be recorded on the receipt. 6.16.030 LICENSING PERIOD The license period for any license issued pursuant to this chapter shall be the period of time specified on the license application pursuant to which such license is issued. The license period specified on any given license application shall be whatever period the pound master may select for that particular license application; provided, however, that such period shall not be less than one (1) year nor more than two (2) years from the date the license is issued; and provided further, that such period shall not extend beyond the LAx:66162.2 3 expiration date of the applicable rabies vaccination. A license shall expire, and such license and corresponding license tag shall cease to be current, upon the expiration of the applicable license period. 6.16.040 FEE A. The fee for the license required by this chapter shall be as prescribed by resolution of the board of supervisors of the County of Ventura. B. The fee prescribed for a dog or cat which has been spayed or neutered, as verified by a veterinarian's certificate, shall be no more than fifty percent (500) of the fee for a dog or cat of the same sex which has not been spayed or neutered. 6.16.050 EXEMPTION FROM FEE. A dog license shall be issue free of charge in the following instances: A. When the license is for a dog which will be used as a guide dog for a blind person. An affidavit attesting to the fact that the dog will be used as a guide dog shall be given to the official issuing the license. LAx:66162.2 4 B. When the license is for a doq which has been honorably discharged from the armed services of the United States. Such discharge shall be established by showing the official issuing the license the discharge papers issued for such dog. 6.16.060 DUE DATE AND PENALTIES A. The information and fee required by this chapter are due on the thirtieth (30th) day after the day on which (1) the previous license, if any, expires, (2) the dog or cat is acquired by the person owning, harboring or keeping it, (3) the dog or cat is brought into the City, or (4) the dog or cat attains the age of four (4) months, whichever shall last occur. B. Any person who obtains a license after the due date shall pay, in addition to the license fee, a late license penalty in an amount equal to one hundred percent (1000) of the license fee which would be applicable if the license period was one (1) year, regardless of the actual license period for which such license is issued. Such penalty shall be in addition to any other penalty or sanction which may be imposed pursuant to this chapter for failure to have a license. 6.16.070 TAG -- ISSUANCE Upon receipt of the required information, accompanied by payment of the proper fee and display of an acceptable rabies vaccination I.Ax:66162. z 5 certificate, a dog or cat shall be licensed, a written receipt shall be issued to the applicant, and a metal license tag shall be mailed to the applicant's address, or the electronic identification shall be inserted into the cat. Each license tag or electronic identification shall be serially numbered and identified with the words "Ventura County" and shall be marked with the year in which it is issued. 6.16.080 TAG -- EXEMPTION The license tag need not be worn by the dog or cat when the dog or cat is: A. Securely confined in a cage or vehicle; or B. Within an enclosure sufficient to securely confine the dog or cat to the premises of an animal hospital, a licensed dog or cat kennel, or a state chartered benevolent organization for the care of animals, or of the person owning, harborinq or controlling the dog or cat; or C. Participating in, or training for, a sporting event, field trial, obedience class, or dog or cat show or when the dog is herding livestock, provided such dog or cat is not running at large. LAX:66162.2 6 6.16.090 TAG -- REPLACEMENT If a license tag issued under the provisions of this chapter is lost, a duplicate tag may be obtained from the City or its agent upon paying a fee in the amount prescribed by resolution of the board of supervisors of the County of Ventura and by either surrendering the receipt obtained for the lost license tag or certifying under penalty of perjury that a tag was obtained and that the receipt cannot be f ound . 6.16.100 TRANSFERABILITY In the event that there is a change in ownership of a dog or cat licensed pursuant to this chapter during the license period for which such license is issued, the new owner may have the current license transferred to his name upon payment of a transfer fee in the amount prescribed by resolution of the board of supervisors of the County of Ventura and the surrender of the license receipt. 6.16.110 PROHIBITED CONDUCT Every person who counterfeits a dog or cat license tag, or who attaches a license tag issued under the provisions of this chapter to any dog or cat other than the one for which such tag was issued, or who obtains a dog or cat license and, in doing so, states as true any material matter which he knows to be false, is guilty of an LAX:66162.2 7 infraction. SECTION 3. The Moorpark Municipal Code is hereby amended by revising Section 6.20.010 and 6.20.020 to read as follows: 6.20.010 VACCINATION -- REQUIRED. A. Every person owning, harboring or keeping a dog or cat shall, within thirty (30) days after such dog or cat obtains the age of four (4) months, cause it to be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian with a vaccine of a type approved by the State Department of Health Services as being suitable for use in declared rabies areas and listed in the current copy of the Compendium of United States Licensed Animal Rabies Vaccines. B. Every person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor /infraction. 6.20.020 VACCINATION -- PROCEDURES. A. The poundmaster shall provide facilities for the rabies vaccination of dogs and cats or shall arrange for such vaccination at clinics operated by private veterinary groups or associations. He shall provide blank forms for the vaccination certificates required by this chapter. Failure to display a valid vaccination certificate upon reasonable demand by the poundmaster is prima facie evidence of LA %:66162.2 8 non - vaccination. No charge in excess of the actual cost therefor shall be made for vaccination at such facilities or clinics. B. The vaccination required hereunder may be obtained either at such facilities or clinics or from a licensed veterinarian of the owner's choice. SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any provision of Section 2 of this ordinance: 1. Citations for violations of Chapter 6.16 which pertain to cats shall not be issued prior to December 4, 1994. 2. Any person who does not have a certificate of sterility for his or her cat may obtain an altered cat license by signing a statement indicating that the surgery was performed but a certificate was not issued by the veterinarian on or before December 4, 1994. Thereafter, a certificate of sterility shall be required to qualify for the reduced licensing fee. 3. Any person who does not have a rabies vaccination certificate for his or her cat may obtain a one year license without proof of vaccination on or before December 4, 1994. Thereafter, a valid rabies vaccination certificate must be presented in accordance with Section 6.16.020 of Chapter 6.16. LAX:66162.2 9 SECTION 5. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed and adopted this Ordinance and each and all portions thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more of said portions may be declared invalid or unconstitutional. SECTION 6. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this Ordinance by the City Council; shall enter the same in the book of original ordinances of the City; shall make a minute of the passage and adoption thereof in the records of the proceedings of the City Council at which the same is passed and adopted; and shall, within fifteen (15) days after the passage and adoption thereof, cause the same to be published in the Moorpark News Mirror, a weekly newspaper of general circulation, as defined in Section 6008 of the Government Code, for the City of Moorpark, and which is hereby designated for that purpose. LAX:66162.2 10 �P MOORPARK 799 Moorpark Avenue Moorpark, California 9302, (805) 529 -6864 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF VENTURA ) ss. CITY OF MOORPARK ) I, Lillian E. Hare, City Clerk of the City of Moorpark, California, do hereby certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing Ordinance No. _ 182 ` was adopted by the City Council of the City of Moorpark at a meeting held on the 3RD day of NOVEMBER , 1993, and that the same was adopted by the following vote: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS MONTGOMERY, PEREZ, WOZNIAK AND MAYOR LAWRASON NOES: NONE ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBER HUNTER ABSTAIN: NONE WITNESS my hand and the of f ic:ial seal of said City this 9TH_ _ day of NOVEMBER —_ 1993. Hare City,- I ork PAUL W LAWRASON JR SCOTT MONTGOMERY PATRICK H,)N11 R BERNARDO M PEREZ JOHN E WOZNIAK Mayor Mayor Pro Tem C0LWOIIne^rb'•' Counalrnember Counalmember MOORPARK 799 Moorpark Avenue Moorpark, California 9302, (805) 529 -6864 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF VENTURA ) ss. CITY OF MOORPARK ) I, Lillian E. Hare, City Clerk of the City of Moorpark, California, do hereby certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing Ordinance No. _ 182 ` was adopted by the City Council of the City of Moorpark at a meeting held on the 3RD day of NOVEMBER , 1993, and that the same was adopted by the following vote: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS MONTGOMERY, PEREZ, WOZNIAK AND MAYOR LAWRASON NOES: NONE ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBER HUNTER ABSTAIN: NONE WITNESS my hand and the of f ic:ial seal of said City this 9TH_ _ day of NOVEMBER —_ 1993. Hare City,- I ork PAUL W LAWRASON JR SCOTT MONTGOMERY PATRICK H,)N11 R BERNARDO M PEREZ JOHN E WOZNIAK Mayor Mayor Pro Tem C0LWOIIne^rb'•' Counalrnember Counalmember