Chapter II · Animal Control and Regulation

Article 1. Dogs

Sections 2-101 to 2-112 · 12 sections

2-101 Dogs; license required.

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation (hereinafter referred to as person) to keep or harbor within the corporate limits of the City of Sublette, Kansas, any dog over the age of 3 months, without causing such dog to be licensed and paying the license tax, all as hereinafter provided.

(Ord. 365; Code 2020)

2-102 Dogs; license tax.

(a)There is hereby levied an annual tax upon the owner or harborer of any dog within the corporate limits of the City of Sublette, Kansas, as follows;

(1)For each male or spayed female dog $2.50

(2)For each female dog not spayed $5.00

(b)Each owner keeping a dog over the age of 3 months shall pay the tax imposed by this article to the City Clerk of the City of Sublette, Kansas, within ten (10) days of the dog turning 3 months of age, or within ten (10) days after acquiring ownership or possession of any dog subject to licensing hereunder, or within ten (10) days after establishing residence within the city of Sublette, Kansas. The full amount of the annual license tax shall be required regardless of the time of year such application is made. All licenses shall be valid for a 1 year period of time and shall be renewed every year thereafter with the City Clerk of the City of Sublette.

(c)All owners of dogs shall furnish the City Clerk of the time of application for a dog license, a certificate from a licensed veterinarian showing said dog to have been immunized against rabies and that such immunization will remain effective for the entire year for which the dog is to be licensed and taxed.

(Ord. 365; Code 2020; Ord. 365C)

2-103 Dogs; tags.

Upon proof of Rabies vaccination by a licensed veterinarian and upon payment of the tax herein imposed the City Clerk shall issue a receipt to the taxpayer and shall supply the taxpayer with a suitable tag. It shall be the duty of the person receiving such tag to cause it to be affixed to the collar or harness of the dog for which the tag has been paid and issued, and in a manner that said tag may be easily seen and observed by City Officials. In case of a lost tag, the City Clerk, upon application and satisfactory proof of prior registration and loss, and upon payment of the sum of one dollar ($1 .00) shall issue a replacement and enter a record of the same in the book kept for registration thereof.

(Ord. 365; Code 2020)

2-104 Dogs; registration record.

The City Clerk shall keep a suitable book in which shall be entered the name and address of the person paying tax on dogs, the name of each dog, its’ sex, and if female, whether spayed, or not, the color, coloring and general description of each such dog together with any other information that may be helpful in identifying such animal..

(Ord. 365; Code 2020)

2-105 Dogs; impounding unlicensed dogs.

The City Police Department of the City of Sublette, Kansas, or any other person appointed or designated by the governing body of the City of Sublette, shall be responsible and shall have the authority to enforce all of the provisions of this article. The City Police Department or any other person designated or appointed for such purpose, upon identifying any unlicensed dog, shall notify the owner, keeper, or harborer, if known, of said dog. The notice shall provide that the dog if not so licensed shall be impounded pursuant to the provisions of this article and owner of said dog shall license said dog within twenty-four (24) hours.

(Ord. 365; Code 2020)

2-106 Dogs; running at large.

It shall be unlawful for any owner or harborer of a dog or any person having the care, custody or control of any dog, whether licensed or unlicensed, to permit said dog to run at large in the City of Sublette, Kansas. “Run at Large” is defined as not being on the owner’s premises, in the owner’s vehicle or on a leash within the owner’s control.

(Ord. 365; Code 2020)

2-107 Dogs; impounding; kennel fee.

(a)Any unlicensed dog, whether in control and possession by the owner or whether running at large, may be impounded. Any dog, whether licensed or unlicensed, which is running at large in the City of Sublette, Kansas, may be impounded. The City Police Department of Sublette, Kansas, or any other person appointed or designated by the governing body shall have the authority to impound dogs. All dogs taken into custody and impounded by the City of Sublette for a, violation of this article, shall be held for a period of up to, but not more than, 72 hours. Dogs impounded hereunder shall be released to the owner upon verification of ownership, upon verification of rabies vaccination or upon payment to the city clerk of the costs associated with said vaccination, upon purchase of license if said dog is unlicensed, and upon payment of a Twenty-Five Dollar ($25.00) fee to the City Clerk. In the event the owner pays the City for the vaccination then the City upon receipt of said payment shall notify; the local provider of such vaccines of the individual/dog and pay for the vaccination upon verification from the local provider. Any dog not claimed and redeemed, as provided herein, within 72 hours from the impoundment, shall be humanely destroyed. For the second time and any time thereafter, the same dog is impounded within one year, the fee for release of said dog shall be Fifty Dollars ($50.00), which is an impoundment fee and separate and apart from the penalty section of this article.

(b)In addition to the impound fee as discussed in section 2-107(a), a daily kennel fee shall be assessed in the amount of twelve dollars ($12.00) per day or part thereof for a dog so impounded. This kennel fee shall either be paid prior to the release of the dog so impounded or, in the alternative, assessed in municipal court.

(Ord. 365; Ord. 365A; Code 2020; Ord. 365B)

2-108 Dogs; municipal dog pound.

The City of Sublette, Kansas, shall maintain a Municipal dog pound that shall provide a clean, safe and secure place of impoundment for all animals seized and impounded under the authority of this article or the order of the City Health Officer or any other agency having authority over the impoundment of animals. In the event the Municipal Dog Pound is not available or not deemed appropriate by the seizing authority, then the seized dog shall be housed at different animal shelter or released to the owner. In the case of a vicious dog, the seizing authority shall further have the discretion to allow the dog to be returned to the owner upon proof of proper safeguards being put into place to ensure the public safety. It shall be unlawful for persons to trespass upon or within the area designated as the Municipal dog pound, to release any animal held therein or to in any way impede or interfere with the enforcement of this article or with the impoundment or custody of any animal confined in said pound.

(Ord. 365; Code 2020; Ord. 462)

2-109 Dogs; prohibited acts.

It shall be unlawful for any person owning, harboring or having the custody or possession of any dog to cause or allow such animal to:

(a)Run at large within the City;

(b)Run at large within the City and cause physical harm to a human being through biting;

(c)Defecate on any public property and on any private property not owned or lawfully occupied by such person unless the feces are promptly removed;

(d)Commit any damage or nuisance upon the property of any other person;

(e)Enter a public building unless such animal is a guide dog for a blind person or an assist dog for a handicap person; and

(f)Disturb the peace and quiet of any persons.

(Ord. 365; Code 2020)

2-110 Diseased animals.

Nothing in this article shall be construed as preventing or prohibiting the City from impounding any animal suffering, or believed to be suffering, from a dangerous disease or one that endangers the lives of persons. Such animals may be seized and impounded upon the order or at the discretion of the City Health Officer, or the governing body of the City of Sublette, or any other agency of officer having authority over health and safety of people in Sublette, Kansas, including the City Police Department.

(Ord. 365; Code 2020)

2-111 Dogs; ownership.

Any person having custody, possession or who is keeping or harboring a dog within the corporate limits of the City of Sublette, Kansas, for three consecutive days shall be deemed the owner thereof and the person responsible therefor.

(Ord. 365; Code 2020)

2-112 Penalty.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon proper charge and conviction thereof, be fined a sum not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) and not exceed Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00), or shall be imprisoned for a term not to exceed thirty (30) days, or both such fine and imprisonment. The penalties herein are exclusive of any may be imposed in addition to any fees paid by the owner of an impounded dog to the City of Sublette to release said dog. Any person violating subsection (b) of section 2-109, allowing the dog to run at large within the City and cause physical harm to a human being through biting, shall be fined an additional eighty dollars ($80) for a vaccinated dog and one hundred-twenty dollars ($120) for an unvaccinated dog.

(Ord. 365; Code 2020)