[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of
Cheltenham as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Parks and playgrounds — See Ch. 201.
[Adopted 12-29-1977 by Ord. No. 1431
as Ch. 4, Art. II and § 4-9 of the Cheltenham Code]
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, partnership or corporation
to operate at any place within the Township of Cheltenham any exhibit or show
of wild animals.
[Amended 3-21-1989 by Ord. No. 1686; 11-21-1995
by Ord. No. 1846-95]
Any owner, person or legal entity violating or refusing to comply with
the provisions of this article shall, upon summary conviction before a District
Justice, pay a fine of not more than $600, together with costs of suits, collectible
in the manner provided by law. Each violation after notice of an offense or
service of a summons shall constitute a distinct and separate offense.
[Adopted 9-20-1983 as Ord. No. 1569]
No person being the owner or person in charge or control of any animal
shall allow or permit such animal upon any public school property other than
for township or School District educational purposes, or upon any township
property maintained as a playing field or playground area, other than for
township recreation program purposes.
[Added 2-17-1998 by Ord. No. 1909-98]
No owner or custodian of a dog shall allow such dog to defecate on private
or public property other than the property of the owner or custodian, unless
the owner or custodian immediately removes such feces and disposes of it in
a sanitary manner.
[Added 2-17-1998 by Ord. No. 1909-98]
Guide dogs accompanying a blind person, dogs used to assist any other
physically challenged person or dogs used in any Police or Fire Department
activities shall be exempt from the provisions of this article.
[Added 10-20-1998 by Ord. No. 1926-98]
A.Â
No owner or custodian of any dog or dogs, licensed or
unlicensed, shall permit such dog or dogs to run at large off the premises
of the owner or custodian at any time unaccompanied by the owner or custodian,
upon the streets, roads, highways or public grounds in the township or upon
the property of another person other than the owner or custodian.
B.Â
When not on the premises of the owner or custodian, a
dog must be leashed at all times when on foot. The leash shall be of sturdy
material.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Those township park areas where any piece of playground equipment
is located and any surrounding areas up to and including 50 feet around such
structures. This definition shall also include all township park and recreation
areas that are enclosed by any type of fencing.
Those township park areas that are the actual required dimensions
for active recreation programs (i.e., baseball, basketball, tennis, football,
volleyball, softball, soccer and jogging tracks) and any area within 20 feet
of those playing boundaries.
[Added 10-20-1998 by Ord. No. 1926-98]
It shall be the duty of the Township Police and the Animal Control Officer
to seize and detain any dog or dogs, whether licensed or unlicensed, which
are found running at large, either upon the public streets, roads, highways
or public grounds in the township or upon the property of others than that
of the owner or custodian of such dogs.
[Added 10-20-1998 by Ord. No. 1926-98]
Any dogs or dog bearing a proper license tag and seized by a police
officer of the township or the Animal Control Officer shall be detained, properly
kept and fed; and immediate notice, either personal or by registered mail,
shall be given to the person in whose name the license was procured, or his
agent, to claim such dog within five days. The owner of a dog so detained
shall pay a penalty of $15 to the Township of Cheltenham and a kennel fee
to the detaining parties to recover all reasonable expenses incurred by reason
of its detention before the dog is returned to its owner.
[Added 10-20-1998 by Ord. No. 1926-98]
Any dog or dogs not claimed in accordance with the provisions of this
article shall be disposed of in accordance with the Acts of Assembly of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in such case made and provided by sale or by
destruction in some humane manner.
[Added 10-20-1998 by Ord. No. 1926-98]
It is the intent that this article shall be supplemental to any laws
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereinbefore or hereinafter adopted covering
dogs within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and specifically in the Township
of Cheltenham. In the event of any inconsistency, ambiguity or overlapping
between these provisions and any other provisions enforced by the municipality,
the more restrictive shall apply, to the effect that state legislation has
not preempted the municipality's power to enforce the stringent provisions.
Should any of the provisions of this Article be contrary to the provisions
of any Act of Assembly, it is the intent that the Act of Assembly shall supersede
this article.
[Amended 11-21-1995 by Ord. No. 1846-95; 10-20-1998
by Ord. No. 1926-98]
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon
conviction thereof before any District Justice, be guilty of a summary offense
for the first and second violation and for a third and subsequent violation
which occurs within one year of the first violation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
of the third degree, and be sentenced to pay a fine to the Township of Cheltenham
of not more than $600, together with the cost of prosecution. Each time a
violation occurs shall be considered a separate offense. In default of the
payment of any fine, the defendant may be sentenced to a period of imprisonment
not to exceed 10 days.
