Village of West Carthage, NY Chapter 43 Dogs

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of West Carthage 2-22-1988 by L.L. No. 3-1988.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Noise — See Ch. 56.

Parks and playgrounds — See Ch. 58.

[1] Editor's Note: This local law also superseded former Ch. 43, Dogs, adopted 11-8-1971, as amended.

§ 43-1 Licenses.

Any person owning, keeping harboring or having the custody or control of a dog, age six months or older, within the limits of the Village of West Carthage must license said dog as provided by law.

A. A dog license tag must be affixed to a collar or harness worn by the dog, for identification, as provided by law.

B. Any resident of the Village of West Carthage owning, keeping, harboring, or having the custody or control of, a dog must obtain a Town of Champion license for said dog within 30 days of becoming a resident of the Village of West Carthage or of obtaining said dog.

[Amended 3-25-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]

C. For the purposes of this chapter, persons owning, keeping, harboring or having the custody or control of a dog shall be deemed to be "owning" the dog and shall be referred to as "owners."

§ 43-2 Running at large prohibited.

No person owning a dog shall permit such dog to be at large in the Village of West Carthage elsewhere than on the premises of the owner, except on the premises of another person with the knowledge and consent of such other person.

A. This section applies to all dogs whether they be licensed or unlicensed.

B. The fact that a dog is at large in the Village of West Carthage, elsewhere than on the premises of the owner, shall be presumptive evidence that the dog is permitted to be at large with the knowledge of the owner.

§ 43-3 Restraint and control.

[Amended 3-25-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]

The owner of a dog within the Village of West Carthage shall at all times control and restrain the dog, and said owner shall be of such physical ability to control and restrain the dog effectively by use of an adequate collar or harness and leash, except when the dog is on the premises of said owner.

§ 43-4 Prohibited behavior.

A. No person owning a dog within the limits of the Village of West Carthage shall permit or allow said dog to defecate or to continue any other nuisance in any park, public building, store, parking lot, public sidewalk or on any private property without the permission of the owner of said private property. Any person owning a dog(s) shall remove and dispose of any defecation by said dog(s) within one hour.

[Amended 5-24-1999 by L.L. No. 1-1999]

B. No person owning a dog within the limits of the Village of West Carthage shall permit said dog to habitually bark or cry at any time of the day to such extent that the dog shall disturb or interfere with the peaceful living of any person.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: See also Ch. 56, Noise.

C. At the West Carthage Village Playground, dogs are prohibited in the fenced small children's play area but are allowed on the main playground only if on a leash.

[Added 5-24-1999 by L.L. No. 1-1999; amended 7-12-1999 by L.L. No. 2-1999]

§ 43-5 Seizure.

All dogs roaming at large, licensed or unlicensed, within the limits of the Village of West Carthage shall be subject to seizure and restraint by the Village of West Carthage dog control officer or any peace officer of the Village of West Carthage.

§ 43-6 Nonliability for damages.

No action shall be maintained to recover the possession or value of a dog, or for damages for injury or destruction of a dog if said dog was validly seized by a Village of West Carthage dog control officer or a Village of West Carthage peace officer, and said dog is not wearing a tag identifying the dog as licensed as provided by law.

§ 43-7 Penalties for offenses.

[Amended 5-24-1999 by L.L. No. 1-1999]

Any violation of this chapter shall be an offense and shall be punishable by a fine of $25 for each offense and a fine of $50 for each repeated offense or by imprisonment for not more than 15 days.

§ 43-8 Statutory powers and duties of dog control officers and peace officers.

The following provisions of § 118 of the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law are hereby adopted:

A. Any dog control officer or peace officer acting pursuant to his special duties or a police officer in the employ of or under contract to a municipality shall seize any dog which is not licensed, whether on or off the owner's premises.

B. Any dog control officer or peace officer acting pursuant to his special duties or a police officer in the employ of or under contract to a municipality may seize any dog in violation of any local law or ordinance relating to the control of dogs adopted by a municipality pursuant to provisions of this article.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: See Art. 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law.

§ 43-9 Impoundment fees.

[Added 7-11-1988 by L.L. No. 5-1988]

The owner of any dog which has been seized pursuant to this chapter may redeem said seized dog within a period of five days, provided that such owner produces proof that the dog has been licensed, and further provided that the owner pays the following impoundment fees:

A. $10 for the impoundment of any dog owned by that person, plus the cost of providing food to the dog during the impoundment period.

§ 43-10 Property maintenance.

[Added 3-25-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]

No person owning, keeping, harboring or having custody or control of a dog or dogs shall allow dog feces to accumulate on their owned, rented or other private premises for longer than three days. Dog feces shall be placed in a covered container and discarded properly or buried in a container made specifically for that purpose.