[Adopted 3-18-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-01[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 18,
Animals, which comprised Art. I, Animals, adopted 2-7-1972 as Sec.
3 of Ord. No. I of the Ordinances of the Town of Brentwood (Ch. 60,
Art. I, of the 1986 Code); and Art. II, Dogs and Cats, adopted 2-7-1972
as Sec. 10 of Ord. No. II of the Ordinances of the Town of Brentwood,
amended in its entirety 3-19-1973 (Ch. 60, Art. II, of the 1986 Code)
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meanings stated herein
unless their use in the text of this chapter clearly demonstrates
a different meaning. When not inconsistent with the context, words
used in the present tense include the future, words used in the plural
number include the singular number, and words used in the singular
number include the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory
and not merely directory.
The pet solid waste is removed at once, without delay.
Any person who shall possess, maintain, house or harbor any
pet or otherwise have custody of any pet, whether or not the owner
of such pet.
Any individual, corporation, company, partnership, firm,
association, or political subdivision of this state subject to municipal
jurisdiction.
A domesticated animal (other than a disability assistance
animal) kept for amusement or companionship.
Waste matter expelled from the bowels of the pet; excrement.
Placement in a designated waste receptacle, or other suitable
container, and discarded in a refuse container which is regularly
emptied by the municipality or some other refuse collector; or disposal
into a system designed to convey domestic sewage for proper treatment
and disposal.
No person shall keep or permit to be kept in the Town of Brentwood
a dog or cat unless such dog or cat has been licensed under the provisions
of the Prince George's County Animal Control Act, and bears,
attached to the collar or harness, a tag indicating payment of said
license for the current year; and in such case the dog or cat is considered
to be the personal property of the person to whom the license was
issued or to whom it was transferred. Any dog or cat not licensed
and tagged as aforesaid by the Executive and Council of Prince George's
County, Maryland, shall be deemed a wild animal and may be impounded
by the Code Enforcement Officer, police officer, or Prince George's
County Animal Control.
Unless explicitly provided for in this chapter, the animal control
regulations in force and effect in Prince George's County are
hereby adopted to be the regulations governing animals in the Town
of Brentwood.
Dogs, cats and other animal pets shall be confined at all times
to the premises of their owners, except when under the immediate and
effective control of said owner or custodian, specifically on a leash
not to exceed six feet in length.
A.
No owner shall fail to provide effective care and control of his
pets to prevent them from becoming a public nuisance. Excessive, continuous
or untimely barking, howling or making of other noises, molesting
passersby, chasing vehicles, habitually attacking other domestic animals,
trespassing upon school grounds or trespassing upon any other property
in such a manner as to damage the property or excreting on property
other than that of the owner shall be deemed a nuisance.
B.
No person owning, keeping or having custody of a pet, except a disability
assistance animal, shall allow or permit the pet's solid waste
to remain on property, public or private, not owned or possessed by
that person, including streets or private property, without the consent
of the owner or occupant thereof. The person owning, keeping or having
custody of the pet shall immediately remove and properly dispose of
the excrement deposited by the animal.
No person shall keep or harbor any dog or cat that is vicious
or dangerous as defined in § 10-619 of the Criminal Law
Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland,[1] nor shall any person permit any dog or cat to pursue,
chase, worry, wound or kill any animal or pet or any human being,
within the Town of Brentwood.
[1]
"Dangerous dog" means a dog that:
A. Without provocation has killed or inflicted severe injury
on a person; or
B. Is determined by the appropriate unit of a county or municipal
corporation under Subsection C of this section to be a potentially
dangerous dog and, after the determination is made:
(1) Bites a person;
(2) When not on its owner's real property, kills or inflicts
severe injury on a domestic animal; or
(3) Attacks without provocation.
The owner of any female dog or cat shall confine said dog or
cat in heat, whether or not such dog or cat bears a license and the
tag issued under the provisions of the Prince George's County
Animal Control Act, within a building or secure enclosed kennel with
a top in such a manner that such female dog or cat cannot come in
contact with another animal except for planned breeding within the
building or enclosure.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for the owner of any
domestic animal or pet to fail to provide said animal with sufficient
good and wholesome food and water, clean and sanitary surroundings
and shelter and protection from the weather, veterinary care when
needed to prevent suffering or the transmission of communicable disease,
humane care and treatment, and it shall be a violation to abandon
an animal, to beat, ill treat, torment, overload, overwork or otherwise
abuse any animal or cause or permit any animal to fight or become
engaged in combat between animals or between animals and humans.
A pet found at large without a license tag shall, except as
provided in this chapter, be impounded by the Prince George's
County Animal Control or other agent empowered to enforce this Code
and taken to the animal control shelter.
Upon impounding an animal, the Code Enforcement Officer or other
agent empowered to enforce this Code shall cause a prompt and reasonable
effort to be made to locate and notify the pet's owner.
It is prohibited to trap, poison, shoot or otherwise kill any
animal, unless trapping in a humanitarian trap for the purposes of
spaying, neutering, or improving the condition of a wild, homeless
or injured animal.
The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the Brentwood
Police Department and the Code Enforcement Officer of the Town of
Brentwood. The Police or the Code Enforcement Officer shall call upon
the Prince George's animal shelter or animal control to assist
the Police Department in impounding any dog or cat found at large
in violation of this chapter.
A.
Violations of this chapter shall be punishable as a municipal infraction as provided in this chapter and the Brentwood Code. With the exception of § 18-8, the fine for the first violation shall be $50, and the fine for the second and subsequent violations will be $200.
B.
In the case of a verified cruelty or neglect charge, as it pertains to § 18-8, the fine for the first violation shall be $250, and the fine for the second and subsequent violations will be $500.
C.
Any person(s) or owner/keeper who is found to be in violation of the provisions of § 18-6 shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $1,000 and shall be required to compensate the owner of the pet or victims for all medical costs incurred as a result of any injurious action by his or her dog or cat.
Keeping livestock, domestic fowl and/or wild exotic rare animals
is prohibited within the corporate limits of the Town of Brentwood.
This includes but is not limited to cattle, horses, swine, sheep,
pigs, goats, turkeys, roosters, and other livestock and poultry and
game birds, or wild exotic cats, monkeys, venomous snakes and any
endangered species.
