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Chapter 48 DOG CONTROL ARTICLE I Licensing and Control § 48-1. Purpose. ARTICLE II Canine Waste § 48-17. Intent. [HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Bedford: Art. I, 10-16-1984, which ordinance also superseded former Ch. 48, Dogs, adopted 7-15-1975, as amended; Art. II, 7-7-1992. Amendments noted where applicable.] ARTICLE I §48-1. Purpose. The purpose of this Article shall be to promote the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the Town of Bedford, including the protection and preservation of the property of the Town of Bedford and its inhabitants and of the peace and good order, by adopting and enforcing certain regulations and restrictions on the privileges of the owners of dogs and the rights and privileges of the residents of the Town of Bedford and by imposing restrictions upon the keeping and running at large of dogs within the Town of Bedford. § 48-2. Title. This Article shall be known and may be cited as the "Town of Bedford Dog Control Ordinance, as amended." § 48-3. Definitions. As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated: DOG-A carnivorous domesticated mammal, known as "Canis familiaris," and shall include male as well as female. § 48-4. License fees. In addition to any licensing fee required to be paid to the State of New York, the owner of any dog requiring a license pursuant to law shall pay to the Town of Bedford at the time of issuance of such license a fee of five dollars ($5.), as authorized by Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law. § 48-5. Prohibitions. It shall be unlawful for an owner of, or any person harboring, any dog in the Town of Bedford to permit, allow or suffer any dog to: A. Engage in excessive loud howling or barking or to conduct itself in such a manner as to repeatedly annoy any person other than the owner or person harboring such dog. B. Cause damage or destruction of property or commit a nuisance upon the premises of a person other than the owner or person harboring such a dog. C. Chase or otherwise harass any person in such a manner as to reasonably cause intimidation or to put such person in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm or injury. D. Habitually chase or bark at motor vehicles, bicycles, moving vehicles or animals or, in running at large, cause unreasonable disturbance. E. Run at large when in heat, and such female dog shall be confined to the premises of such person or of a veterinarian or in a boarding kennel during such period. F. Be off the premises owned or leased by the owner or harborer of said dog unless said dog is under the visual, voice or sound control of its owner or a responsible person able to control the dog. G. Attack, bite, molest, maul or harass any person who is peaceably conducting himself in any place where he may lawfully be. § 48-6. Enforcement officers. The Dog Control Officer and the Police Department of the Town of Bedford shall be the enforcement officers of the provisions of this chapter. § 48-7. Apprehension of dogs. The Dog Control Officer shall apprehend any dog found by him to be in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter pursuant to Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law of the State of New York. After not less than twenty-four (24) hours for an unidentified dog and forty-eight (48) hours for an identified dog, the Dog Control Officer shall deliver the apprehended dog to the custody of the poundkeeper. § 48-8. Designation of poundkeeper. The Town of Bedford shall designate a poundkeeper, who shall receive into its custody and safely keep and properly feed each dog brought to it by the Dog Control Officer until such dog is redeemed, adopted or euthanized as hereinafter provided, the town retaining ownership or control until redeemed, adopted or euthanized. § 48-9. Custodian of dog to be deemed offender. The owner of record, custodian or person who keeps, harbors or otherwise has charge of any dog which has been impounded pursuant to any provisions of this chapter shall be deemed an offender and shall be subject to the penalty prescribed in this chapter. § 48-10. Notification of custodian. Within twenty-four (24) hours of the impounding of any dog, or as soon thereafter as possible, the Dog Control Officer shall notify the owner or custodian thereof, if ascertainable, of its impoundment. Upon payment of fees and charges as hereinafter provided by this chapter, the dog shall be forthwith surrendered to the owner or custodian thereof. § 48-11. Service of summons The Dog Control Officer shall apprehend and impound any dog that is found by him to be in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter. Within twenty-four (24) hours, or as soon thereafter as possible, the Dog Control Officer must serve or have served upon the owner of record or harborer of such impounded dog a summons returnable in the Town Court of the Town of Bedford and file with the court a verified information and supporting deposition by the person or persons making the complaint. § 48-12. Time limits. A dog apprehended pursuant to the provisions of this chapter will be held by the poundkeeper for redemption for eight (8) days from the date of apprehension, after which time it may be offered for adoption for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days from date of apprehension or euthanized, unless otherwise specified by order of the Court of the Town of Bedford. § 48-13. Redemption fees. [Amended 3-6-1990] Any dog apprehended hereunder may be redeemed by the owner or harborer thereof upon payment of a redemption fee to the Town Clerk, plus an additional fee for each twenty-four-hour period or part thereof that the dog is held in the Town of Bedford, as well as the appropriate license fee if the dog is unlicensed. No dog may be redeemed without a receipt indicating payment of fees. All fees hereunder are as set forth on the fee schedule approved by the Town Board. All fees collected shall be turned over to the Supervisor for the Dog Control Fund of the Town of Bedford. § 48-14. Interference with capture of dog. No person shall interfere with the capture or conveying to the pound or the impounding of any dog directed to be impounded hereby, and no person shall rescue any such dog from the pound. § 48-15. Restraint by leash required in certain areas. No dog shall be allowed in any public park of the Town of Bedford or in the Neighborhood Business District of Bedford Village; the Planned Business Retail Zone on Route 22 (Old Post Road), Bedford Village; the Central Business Zone of Bedford Hills; the Central Business Zone of Katonah, as defined by the Code of the Town of Bedford in § 125-5 thereof and the Official Zoning Map of the Town of Bedford referred to therein, unless the dog is restrained by a leash or is within a motor vehicle. § 48-16. Penalties for offenses. Any person who violates this Article or knowingly permits the violation of this Article or of any of the provisions thereof shall be deemed to have committed an offense against this Article, and any person convicted of any such violation after investigation and hearing shall be liable to a penalty of not more than twenty-five dollars ($25.) for the first violation, not more than fifty dollars ($50.) for the second violation and not more than one hundred dollars ($100.) for the third violation or any subsequent violation. ARTICLE II Canine Waste [Adopted 7-7-1992] § 48-17. Intent. The purpose of this Article shall be to promote the health, safety, cleanliness and general welfare of the Town of Bedford, including the protection, cleanliness and preservation of the property of the Town of Bedford and its inhabitants by adopting and enforcing certain regulations and restrictions on the activities of dogs. §48-18. Title. This Article shall be known and can be cited as the "Town of Bedford Canine Waste Law." § 48-19. Definitions. As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated: DOG-A carnivorous domesticated mammal, known as "Canis familiaris," and shall include male as well as female. § 48-20. Nuisances by dogs prohibited. Except as provided and regulated by § 48-21 hereof, no person owning, harboring, keeping, walking or having the custody or control of a dog shall cause, permit, suffer or allow such dog to soil, defile, defecate on or commit any nuisance on any common thoroughfare, sidewalk, passageway, bypath, play area, park or any other public property. These restrictions shall likewise apply to any private property unless such person shall have the express written permission of the owner of said property. § 48-21. Exceptions; removal of feces. The prohibition set forth in § 48-20 above shall not apply to those portions of a street lying between curblines, which such portions may be utilized to curb a dog, subject however to the following conditions: A. Any person who so curbs a dog shall immediately remove all feces deposited by such dog in the following manner: feces shall be picked up with scoop, shovel, broom, tong or other similar implement and be deposited immediately thereafter in a container, plastic or otherwise, and then subsequently deposited in a container used for the disposal of refuse. B. In no event shall any feces be deposited in sewers or drains, whether storm or sanitary. § 48-22. Penalties for offenses. Any person violating this Article shall be guilty of a violation and shall be subject to a fine not to exceed the sum of one hundred dollars ($100.). § 48-23. Enforcement officers. The Dog Control Officer and the Police Department of the Town of Bedford shall be the enforcement officers of the provisions of this Article. § 48-24. Severability. Should any paragraph or section, or portion thereof, of this Article be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unlawful, the same shall not affect the remainder of this Article as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so declared to be invalid. |