[Adopted 6-5-2012, approved 9-24-2012 (Art. 93 of the 2011 General
By-Laws)]
A.Â
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER
DOMESTIC ANIMAL
TOWN SIDEWALK
TOWN WAY
UNDER RESTRAINT
As used in this article of the General By-Laws, the terms below shall
have the following definitions:
The person, and any assistants thereto, who is appointed
by the Select Board to enforce the federal, state and local statutes,
rules, regulations and by-laws relating to animals within the Town.
Any and all domestic livestock, fowl and beasts of burden,
including, without limitation, any and all horses, donkeys, mules,
cattle, sheep, goats, swine, llamas, alpacas, chickens, turkeys, geese
and ducks.
Any sidewalk that abuts and runs parallel to a Town way.
Any public way that is controlled and maintained by the Town,
and any private way in the Town that provides access from one public
way to another public way, and is commonly available to, and used
by, the public for this purpose.
A domestic animal is "under restraint" if it is under the
effective and actual control of an individual who is in proximity
to said domestic animal, regardless of whether that individual is
utilizing a physical restraint to maintain said control.
B.Â
Any terms that have not been defined specifically herein shall have
their normal English meanings unless the context indicates otherwise.
No person shall permit or allow a domestic animal to be upon
any Town way unless it is both under restraint and being led, driven
or ridden along said way. Furthermore, no person shall permit or allow
a domestic animal to be upon any Town sidewalk unless it is both under
restraint and being led, driven or ridden across said sidewalk for
the sole purpose of reaching, entering or gaining access to a property
that abuts that sidewalk. There shall be no pasturing of domestic
animals upon any Town way or sidewalk.
No person shall permit or allow a domestic animal to be upon
any Town-owned property other than a Town way or sidewalk, unless
the domestic animal is under restraint and not otherwise prohibited
by law from being upon that property; provided, that any such domestic
animal need not be under restraint if it is being pastured in an enclosed
or fenced area of public property pursuant to a written agreement
with the Town.
No person shall permit or allow a domestic animal to be upon
any private property other than a Town way or sidewalk, regardless
of whether the domestic animal is under restraint, and whether for
pasturage or otherwise, unless the owner of that property provides
permission to do so and the domestic animal is not otherwise prohibited
by law from being upon that property.
The restrictions of this article may be enforced by the Animal Control Officer and any police officer of the Town, but shall be enforceable solely against persons having custody, care, control or ownership of any domestic animal that is in violation of said restrictions. Whenever a violation is the first violation that is enforceable against a particular person, or occurs more than the 12 months after the last violation that was enforced against that person, then that person shall receive a written warning. Whenever a violation that is enforceable against a particular person occurs within 12 months of another violation that was enforced against that person, then a fine of $50 shall be imposed upon that person, which shall be subject to the non-criminal disposition procedures as provided in Chapter 60, Article I, of the General By-Laws and Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 21D. If multiple domestic animals are simultaneously engaged in the same violation, then that incident shall be treated as a single violation for the purposes of this section.
