(a)   Every owner of any dog or cat over six months of age shall annually register with the city clerk his or her name and address with the name, sex and description of each dog or cat owned and kept within the city. It shall be unlawful for the owner of any newly acquired dog or cat or any dog or cat brought into the city to fail to register such animal within 30 days from acquisition or bringing the dog or cat into the city.  It shall be unlawful for the owner of any previously registered dog or cat to fail to maintain current registration of such dog or cat.

(b)   Upon registration, the owner shall present a current, completed certificate of immunization against rabies. No registration shall follow without evidence of this document, and it shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog or cat over six months of age to fail to maintain effective rabies immunization of such dog or cat.

(c)   The owner or harborer of any dog or cat shall, at the time of registering such dog or cat, present to the city clerk a certificate from an accredited veterinarian showing that a male dog or cat has been neutered or a female dog or cat has been spayed, if the dog or cat has been neutered or spayed.

(d)   The city clerk shall collect an annual registration fee for each neutered male dog or cat and each spayed female dog and cat and shall collect a fee for each unneutered male dog or cat and for each unsprayed female dog or cat. The fees shall be set by resolution of the City Council of Stafford, Kansas.

(e)   The registration year shall be from May 1st through April 30th of each year. The fee shall be payable before May 1st of each year without penalty.

Registration fees as enumerated above may be prorated for newly acquired dogs or cats or for dogs or cats owned by a person or persons moving to and establishing a home in the city during a calendar year.

(Ord. 897; Code 1996; Ord. 1009; Code 2015; Ord. 1030)

It shall be the duty of the city clerk or designated agent, upon a showing of current rabies immunization and receipt of the registration fee hereinbefore required, to keep in a book suitable for the registration of dogs or cats, the time of the registration, the name of the owner or keeper, the number of the registration and the amount paid therefor, and shall deliver to the owner or keeper of the dog or cat a certificate in writing, stating that the person has registered the dog or cat and the number by which the dog or cat is registered, and shall also deliver to the owner or keeper of the dog or cat a tag with the registration number and the registration year thereon, which shall be, by the owner or keeper, attached to the collar to be used on the dog or cat so registered. When any tag has become lost during a registration period, the owner of the dog or cat may request a duplicate tag for the remainder of the registration period. When so requested, the city clerk shall, upon presentation of the registration certificate, issue a duplicate of such tag upon the payment of the original fee. It shall be unlawful for any person to take off or remove the city registration tag from any dog or cat belonging to another, or remove the strap or collar on which the same is fastened.

(Ord. 897, Sec. 2; Code 1996)

It shall be unlawful for any person to place on any dog or cat a tag issued for any other dog or cat or to make or use any false, forged or counterfeited tag or imitation thereof. 

(Ord. 897, Sec. 2; Code 1996)

It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog or cat kept within the city to fail to display a current certificate of immunization against rabies issued by an accredited veterinarian evidencing the vaccination of such dog or cat within two years, when requested by the animal control officer or any law enforcement officer. 

(Ord. 897, Sec. 2; Code 1996)

The provisions of this article with respect to registration shall not apply to any dog or cat owned by any person visiting or temporarily remaining within the city for less than 30 days. However, such dogs or cats shall be kept under restraint by the owner thereof at all times.

(Ord. 897, Sec. 2; Code 1996)

(a)   It shall be unlawful for the owner or harborer of any dog or cat to permit such dog or cat to run at large within the City at any time;

(b)   Any dog or cat running at large within the City shall be impounded as set out in section 2-207:

(c)   The owner of any dog or cat impounded for running at large with or without a tag required by section 2-202, shall, pay a fine to be determined by the municipal judge not to exceed $500.00 plus pay the board bill.

(Ord. 897, Sec. 2; Code 1996; Code 2015)

(a)   Any dog or cat found in violation of the provisions of this article shall be subject to impoundment by the city.

(b)   A record of all dogs and cats impounded shall be kept by the city containing the following information: color, sex, weight, height, identifying marks, registration number (if any) and the date of impoundment.

(c)   If the dogs and cats impounded has a current registration tag attached to its collar or if the impounding officer knows the identity of the dog or cat’s owner, the owner of such dog or cat, as shown by the records of the city clerk shall be notified in writing as soon as possible or at least 24 hours before such dog or cat is disposed of by destruction or sale. If, at the end of three days the city clerk has been unable to locate, the owner, or the owner, upon having been located, refuses to claim or redeem said dog or cat, then the dog or cat may be sold, euthanized or otherwise disposed of.

(d)   If the dog or cat impounded has no current registration tag and the identity of the animal’s owner is unknown to the animal control officer or the impounding law enforcement officer then such impounding officer shall, upon taking any such animal into custody and impounding the same, make a record thereof, with a description of the animal and the date and place taken into custody and the place of impounding, and shall thereupon immediately post a public notice stating that the animal, describing the same with the date and place of taking, has been taken up, and that unless the charges of impounding the same, together with any license fees due and unpaid, are paid within three business days from the date of the notice, that the animal will be disposed of as provided in this code. If within three business days the owner does not appear to claim the dog or cat, then the dog or cat may be sold, euthanized or otherwise disposed of.

(e)   If at any time before the sale or destruction of any dog or cat impounded under the provisions of this article, the owner of an impounded dog or cat does appear and redeem the dog or cat, it shall be turned over to the person claiming it upon payment of the impound fees and penalties plus the actual costs of impoundment, including rabies vaccination if necessary, and upon compliance with the registration provision of this article. This provision shall not apply to any dog or cat alleged as being vicious under section 2-115 or suspected of rabies under section 2-119 of this code.

(f)    The minimum impoundment fee shall be determined by resolution of the City Council.

(g)   No dog or cat shall be released to any owner or person taking custody of the animal from the impounding officer until the person shall display to the impounding officer a current certificate of immunization against rabies issued by an accredited veterinarian evidencing the vaccination of such dog or cat. If no proof of vaccination can be provided then the impounding officer shall delay the release of the dog or cat until such time as an accredited veterinarian has vaccinated the dog or cat for rabies. The cost of the vaccination shall be paid to the City before the animal is released to the owner or the person taking custody. If the owner or the person taking custody of the animal refuses to pay the charges for vaccination and for impounding, the animal shall be destroyed as provided for herein.

(h)   Impoundment hereunder shall not preclude any court form imposing and executing any fine which might otherwise be levied under this article for violation of any of the provisions thereof; nor shall impoundment be a defense in any prosecution hereunder.

(i)    The redemption of any dog or cat impounded for a violation of any provision of this chapter shall be prima facie evidence of the violation of such provision by the person redeeming the dog or cat.

(Ord. 897, Sec. 2; Code 1996; Code 2015)

If any dog or cat is not redeemed by its owner or harborer within the time allowed for redemption as specified in section 2-207 thereof, the animal control officer, any authorized law enforcement officer, any authorized veterinarian or any duly authorized pound personnel may destroy such dog or cat or sell the same for the costs of impoundment and keeping, plus any registration fee due for the current year.

(Ord. 897, Sec. 2; Code 1996)

Any unspayed female dog or cat in the stage of estrus (heat) shall be confined during such period of time in a house, building or  secure enclosure, and the area of enclosure shall be so constructed that no other dog or cat or dogs or cats may gain voluntary access to the confined animal except for purposes of planned breeding. Any animal that is in the state of estrus (heat) and that is not properly confined, or any such animal that is creating a neighborhood nuisances, shall be removed to a boarding kennel, to a veterinary hospital or to the animal shelter. All expenses incurred as a result of the confinement shall be paid by the owner. The owner of animals removed to the animal shelter shall be charged at the rate established from time to time by the animal shelter for routine confinement. 

(Ord. 897, Sec. 2; Code 1996)

(a)   Except as provided in subsection (b), a person may not restrain a dog with a chain or tether unless the person is holding the chain or tether.

(b)   The prohibition of subsection (a) does not apply to a temporary restraint:

(1)   during a lawful animal event, veterinary treatment, grooming, training, or law enforcement activity; or

(2)   that is required to protect the safety or welfare of a person or the dog, if the dog’s owner or handler remains with the dog throughout the period of restraint.

(c)   A person restraining a dog with a chain or tether shall attach the chain or tether to a properly fitting collar or harness worn by the dog. A person may not wrap a chain or tether directly around a dog’s neck. A person may not restrain a dog with a chain or tether that weighs more than 1/18 of the dog’s body weight. A chain or tether used to restrain a dog must, by design and placement, be unlikely to become entangled.

(d)   This section shall take effect 90 days after the publication date of this city code.

(Code 2015)