A.
It is unlawful for any person to allow or permit an animal to run
at large, as defined in this chapter, in or on any street, alley,
sidewalk, vacant lot, or on public or private property.
B.
A notice of impoundment will be left in each case that an animal
is impounded from private property. An attempt will be made by the
Animal Control Officer to contact the owner.
C.
The Animal Control Officers have the right to impound animals that are destroying public property or endangering the welfare of any person or animal that is lawfully on a public or private right-of-way. Any animal in violation of this section is declared to be a nuisance, a menace to the public health and safety and shall be impounded as provided in §§ 137-6 through 137-9 of this chapter. Further, the Animal Control Officer shall destroy any dog if it is in the act of pursuing or wounding livestock or wounding and killing poultry or attacking humans (NMSA 1978 § 77-1-9).
D.
Feral cat colonies that are actively managed by a property owner
are exempt from the sections of this chapter requiring licensing fees
or tags. To be an eligible feral cat colony manager, the property
must show active work to trap, feed, vaccinate, neuter and release
members of the colony. Animals that are trapped and released will
have their left ear clipped as a visual identification of sterilization
and vaccination against rabies. Colonies will be logged by Animal
Control. Information for each colony cat will include a description
of the cat (sex, color, and approximate age), date of sterilization,
location of colony, and property owner's name. Each cat will be assigned
a log number. In order to qualify for the exemptions, it will be the
responsibility of the property owner to provide Animal Control with
information about each cat in the colony as it is trapped and sterilized.
Animals with appropriate markings and found on property elsewhere
will be treated as though they were on the property where their colony
resides.
It is unlawful for any person to let any female animal to any
male animal except within an enclosure so arranged as to obstruct
the animals completely from the view of all who have no proprietary
interest in the breeding of the animals.
A.
It is unlawful for any person to chain, stake out, graze or herd
any animal on any unenclosed premises in such a manner that the animal
may go beyond the property line.
B.
Any dog not deemed potentially dangerous or dangerous on its owner's
property shall be:
(1)
Placed in a secure run or kennel with access to shade; or
(2)
Kept within a secure enclosure, as defined in this chapter, surrounding
the owner's premises or a portion thereof; or
(3)
Kept under the immediate physical control of a person capable of
restraining the animal; or
(4)
Confined through a means of a buried electronic barrier/collar system
if the animal is properly trained, and the electronic system is functioning
properly; or
(5)
Restrained by means of a trolley system, if the following conditions
are met:
(a)
Only one animal may be tethered to each cable run; and
(b)
The device must be attached to a pulley on a cable run or trolley;
and
(c)
There must be a swivel on at least one end of the tether to
minimize tangling of the tether; and
(d)
The tether and cable must be of adequate size and strength to
effectively restrain the animal. The size and weight must not be excessive
as determined by the Animal Control Officer, considering the age,
size and health of the animal; and
(e)
The cable run must be at least 10 feet in length and at least
four feet above the ground; and
(f)
The tether must not allow the animal to move beyond the legal
boundary of the owner's property; and
(g)
The device must be affixed to the animal by use of a nonabrasive,
comfortably fitted collar or harness; and
(h)
The device must be fastened so that the animal can sit, walk,
and lie down comfortably, and must be unobstructed by objects that
may cause the device or animal to become entangled or strangled; and
(i)
The animal must have easy access to adequate shade, shelter,
food, and potable water; and
(j)
The area where the animal is confined must be kept free of garbage
and other debris that might endanger the animal's health or safety.
Feces shall be cleaned up regularly, but no less frequently than once
per week.
It is unlawful for any person to keep or harbor any vicious
animal. Any person attacked by a vicious animal while on public property
may use reasonable force to repel the attack. After a judicial determination
that an animal is vicious, the owner or keeper of the vicious animal
shall destroy it humanely or turn the animal over to the animal control
center for destruction.
It is unlawful for any person to allow any animal to persistently
or continuously bark, howl or make noise common to the species, or
otherwise to disturb the peace and quiet of the inhabitants of the
City or to keep or maintain animals in such a manner as to disturb
by noxious or offensive odors, or otherwise endanger the health and
welfare of the inhabitants of the City.
It is unlawful for the owner of an animal to permit, either
willfully or through failure to exercise due care or control, the
animal to commit any nuisance upon any property other than that of
the owners of the animal, and then only so long as no other provision
of this chapter is violated.
It is unlawful for any person to remove any license tag from
one animal to another or to remove a license tag from any stray without
lawful permission. It is unlawful for any person to manufacture or
cause to be manufactured or to have in his possession or under his
control a stolen, counterfeit or forged animal license tag, rabies
vaccination certificate or other form of animal or premises license.
It is unlawful for any person to break open any pound, center
or animal control vehicle wherein animals are impounded by the City,
or in any other way to remove or assist in the removal of any animal
from the pound, center or vehicle without lawful permission.
[Amended 11-19-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-02]
It is unlawful for any person owning, operating or maintaining
any public place of business or conveyance into which the general
public is invited for any business purpose to debar or exclude therefrom
any guide dog or helping dog which has been trained or is undergoing
training to assist the disabled, provided that such dog is in the
company of the disabled person whom it was trained to assist or with
a certified guide dog trainer in conformance with state law.
No person having control over a motor vehicle shall place or
confine an animal or allow an animal to be placed or confined or to
remain in a motor vehicle under such conditions or for such period
of time as may endanger the health or well-being of such animal due
to heat, lack of food or drink, or such other circumstances as may
reasonably be expected to cause suffering, disability or death.
Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to prohibit the transportation
of horses, cattle, sheep, poultry or other agricultural livestock
in trailers or other vehicles designed and constructed for such purpose.
[Amended 11-19-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-02]
An animal control or peace officer who finds an animal in a
motor vehicle in violation of this chapter may enter into the motor
vehicle if necessary to remove the animal. The owner of said motor
vehicle shall hold harmless and indemnify the animal control or peace
officer for all damage to his motor vehicle reasonably incurred while
removing the animal. The officer removing the animal shall take the
animal to an animal control center or other place of safekeeping.
If a vehicle is entered, left unsecured and cannot be resecured, an
animal control or peace officer shall stay with the vehicle until
the owner arrives. In the event the person having custody cannot be
contacted, the officer shall leave in a prominent place in the motor
vehicle a written notice bearing his name and office and the address
where the animal may be claimed by the owner. The animal will be surrendered
to the owner if the owner claims the animal within five days from
the time the animal was impounded. The owner shall pay all reasonable
charges that have accrued for the maintenance of the animal. If the
owner fails to claim the animal within five days after its removal
from the motor vehicle, the animal control center will make reasonable
efforts to contact the owner and give notice that the animal is in
custody. In the event the owner cannot be contacted or expresses no
interest in claiming the animal within five days after contact or
efforts of contact, the animal control center may dispose of the animal
in any reasonably humane manner.
