§ 6.001. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter certain terms and words are defined. Words used in the present tense include the future, the singular number includes the plural, and the plural the singular; reference to male gender includes the female, and references to any person or animal without specifying gender includes both male and female; the word "shall" is mandatory and directory wherever it is used in this chapter. Other words defined are:

Adequate food means food that provides a nutritionally complete diet for the animal being fed with said food being free from mold, insect infestation, rancidity, or otherwise compromised in a manner that would be harmful to the animal.

Adequate shelter means a shelter that has at least a roof, three sides, a clean floor, is ventilated, is constructed in a manner to protect an animal from inclement weather, including the provision of bedding when necessary to protect the animal from cold or inclement weather.

After hours means after 5:00 p.m. and before 8:00 a.m. on weekdays, and anytime on weekends.

Animal means any living creature, except human beings, classified as a member of the Kingdom Animalia including, but not limited to, mammals, birds, reptiles and fish.

Animal control officer means the City of San Marcos Animal Services Manager, an authorized representative designated by the animal services manager, or any person designated by the city to enforce city ordinances and state laws pertaining to animals.

Animal services manager means the person designated by the City of San Marcos as the manager of animal services and the animal services facility.

Animal services and animal services facility means the City of San Marcos animal facility and all services related to the operation of that facility.

Animal shelter means any facility operated by a humane society for the purpose of impounding or caring for animals under the authority of this chapter or state law.

Animal dealer means any person, partnership or corporation engaging in the business of buying, selling or trading animals to others; including, but not limited to, sales of any animal at a roadside stand, booth, flea market, or other temporary site. This definition does not include nonprofit animal shelters, rescue groups, or government operated animal shelters.

Animal establishment means any facility or business that has custody or control of animals within the City of San Marcos including, but not limited to, pet shops, pet grooming facilities or commercial kennels. This term does not include veterinary or medical facilities, research or other facilities licensed by governmental agencies.

Animal exhibition means any exhibition or act featuring performing animals, including circuses, temporary animal exhibits, petting zoos and private zoos. Such exhibitions shall not include resident or nonresident dog and cat shows, and other animal shows sponsored or sanctioned by Hays County held at the Hays County Exhibition Center.

Assistant animal means any animal professionally trained to assist a person with disabilities.

At large means an animal (excluding sterilized and registered cats) that meets one of the following criteria:

(1)

On premises of owner: Any animal not confined to the premises of the owner by some physical means of sufficient height, strength, length, or manner of construction to preclude the animal from leaving the premises of the owner. Any animal being contained by a fence that, because of the fence's lack of height or general disrepair, cannot properly restrict the animal, shall be considered at large.

(2)

Off premises of owner: Any animal which is not physically and continually restrained by some person by means of a leash or chain of proper strength and length that precludes the animal from making unsolicited contact with any person, their clothing, their property, or their premises.

(3)

The term shall not include animals that are within the boundary of any city owned or sanctioned dog park.

Auction means any place or facility where animals are regularly bought, sold or traded, except for the facilities otherwise defined in this chapter or state law. This term does not apply to individual sales of animals by private owners.

Cat means any live or dead cat (Felis catus).

Cats and related terms are defined as follows:

Ear tipping means a technique for painless removing of a quarter-inch off the top of a feral cat's left ear by a licensed veterinarian while the cat is anesthetized for spay/neutering for the purpose of permanently identifying a feral cat that has been evaluated, vaccinated, and sterilized.

Feral cat means any cat which is too poorly socialized to be handled (and therefore must be trapped and sedated for examination) and cannot be placed into a typical pet home.

Feral cat caregiver means a person who feeds feral cats, performs trap-neuter-return, and provides long-term care and monitoring for adult feral cats that are returned.

Feral cat colony means three or more cats, "loosely owned," "quasi-owned," or "marginally owned" who have been fed and cared for at some level but are not claimed by any one person.

Free roaming cat means cats which are not confined to the house or an enclosure and are at large.

Managed feral cat colony means a group of feral cats living together and having strong blood ties in which all cats have been sterilized and vaccinated and are provided daily food and shelter by a feral cat caregiver. The caretaker follows the most structured form of trap, vaccinate, alter, return and manage ("TVARM).

Registered feral cat colony means registered at the San Marcos Animal Services and meeting all requirements of this chapter.

Stray cat means cats which are currently or recently owned which may be lost from their homes.

Circus means a commercial variety show featuring animal acts for public entertainment.

City veterinarian means a veterinarian, licensed in the State of Texas, and employed or designated by the city to serve as its veterinarian.

Commercial establishment means establishments that engage in activities that include animal dealer, animal establishment, and animal exhibition, as those terms are defined herein.

Dangerous animal means:

(1)

Any individual animal which, because of its physical nature or vicious propensity, would constitute a danger to human life or property; or any animal that is possessed of tendencies to attack or to injure human beings or other animals;

(2)

An animal that commits an unprovoked attack on a human being that causes bodily injury and occurs in a place other than an enclosure in which the animal was being kept and that was reasonably certain to prevent the animal from leaving the enclosure on its own;

(3)

An animal that commits unprovoked acts in a place other than an enclosure in which the animal was being kept and that was reasonably certain to prevent the animal from leaving the enclosure on its own, and those acts cause a person reasonably to believe that the animal will attack and cause bodily injury to that person; or,

(4)

An animal that makes an unprovoked attack on a domestic animal or domestic fowl that causes bodily injury or death; and which occurs when such animal is at large.

Dangerous wild animal means any animal not normally considered domesticated which, because of its size, vicious nature, or other natural characteristic would constitute a danger to human life, property or domestic animals, or any animal that is restricted from ownership by any state or federal law including, but not limited to, the following animals:

(1)

Reptiles: venomous reptiles, crocodiles or alligators;

(2)

Birds: emus, ostriches, rheas, and any species illegal to own under federal or state law;

(3)

Mammals: ocelots, lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, cougars, bobcats, wolves, dingoes, coyotes, jackals, elephants, weasels, martins, minks, badgers, pandas, bears, raccoons, bats, foxes, skunks, cheetahs, servals, caracals, hyenas, baboons, chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas or any species illegal to own under federal or state law, and any animal which is, or may be hereafter, listed as a "high risk" animal in the Texas Rabies Control Act;

(4)

Marsupials, kangaroos, kinkajous; or,

(5)

Any hybrid of any animal classified as dangerous wild animal.

Estray means any unbranded sheep, cattle, horses or mules found running at large, or any branded sheep, cattle, horses or mules found running at large, or any swine found running at large: but it does not mean nor include any unweaned animal specified in this section that is running with its mother.

Fowl includes chickens, turkeys, pheasants, ducks, geese, pigeons and all similar domestic birds and poultry, whether kept for use or pleasure.

Government-operated facility means any facility owned or operated by a governmental entity at which animals are handled, kept or displayed.

Grooming shop means any facility where animals are bathed, clipped, plucked or otherwise groomed.

Handler means any person having immediate responsibility for or control of an animal.

Identification means any acceptable method such as microchipping, registration tag, or tattoo readily traceable to the current owner.

Impound means the placing of an animal in the city's animal services facility, or, the taking into custody of an animal for the purposes of transportation to the city's animal services facility.

Inhumane treatment of animals means any treatment of an animal prohibited by any provision of law, including federal, state and local laws, ordinance or rules.

Kennels, commercial for the purpose of this chapter only, means any establishment where a person, partnership or corporation keeps dogs or cats primarily for the purpose of boarding, breeding, buying, selling, trading, showing, or training such animals.

Livestock means or includes, regardless of age, sex or breed, horses of all equine species including, mules, donkeys and jackasses, cows consisting of all bovine species, sheep consisting of all ovine species, llamas or alpacas, goats consisting of all caprine species, and pigs consisting of all swine species.

Miniature swine means any swine that has been bred to attain a maximum shoulder height of 18 inches and a maximum weight of 90 pounds.

Microchip implant means a passive electronic device that is injected into an animal by means of a hypodermic-type syringe device. Each microchip shall contain a unique and original number that is read by an electronic scanning device for the purposes of animal identification and recovery by the animal's owners.

Microchip reader means an electronic scanner with an operating frequency that is able to detect a microchip that has been implanted in an animal and display the number of the microchip to its operator. The microchip reader shall be of a type that activates and displays the number of a microchip manufactured by multiple vendors.

Neutered means any animal, male or female. rendered incapable of breeding, or being bred.

Owner means any person, partnership, corporation, association or legal entity that harbors, shelters, keeps, controls, manages, possesses or has whole or part interest in any animal. The occupant, owner or head of household of any premises where an animal remains for 72 hours or more shall be rebuttably presumed to be the owner of such animal, unless the animal has been reported to the city animal services as a stray animal. An occupant of any premises on which a dog or cat remains or customarily returns is a person responsible for it under this chapter. If a person under the age of 17 years owns an animal subject to the provisions of this chapter, the head of the household of which such person under the age of 17 years is a member shall be the person responsible for the animal under this chapter. Such household head may himself be under the age of 17 years and therefore subject to prosecution under this chapter. There may be more than one person responsible for an animal.

Person means an individual, corporation, animal establishment, partnership, or any other legal entity.

Pet animal means any animal that may be kept as a pet within the City of San Marcos so long, as all the required provisions of this article are met, and is not a dangerous wild animal or a wild animal, including but not limited to the following animals:

(1)

Reptiles: Any non-venomous reptile that is not protected from ownership by any federal or state law;

(2)

Birds: Any birds commonly kept as pets that are not protected from ownership by any state or federal law, or any bird kept for falconry purposes by a state and federally permitted falconer;

(3)

Fish: Any fish commonly kept as pets that are not protected from ownership by any state or federal law;

(4)

Mammals: Includes any mammal commonly kept as pets including dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, hedgehogs, rats, mice, chinchillas, and sugar gliders but not limited to these.

(5)

Livestock: Includes any single livestock temporarily kept as part of a bona fide school project, such as for Future Farmers of America.

Pony ride means the use of any horse, pony, mule, donkey or burro to provide rides to, or to pull wagons containing, individual s other than the animals' owners, whether gratuitously or for a fee.

Private owned animal sale means the individual sale of a pet animal by private owners to other private owners that occurs at the residence of either the seller or the buyer.

Public health administrator means the assistant director of community services—environmental health services or designee.

Public nuisance means the conduct of any owner in allowing an animal to:

(1)

Engage in conduct which establishes such animal as a "dangerous animal";

(2)

Damage, soil, defile or defecate on private property other than the owner's or on public property, unless such waste is immediately removed and properly disposed of by the owner of the animal;

(3)

Be "at large" (excluding sterilized and registered cats that are identified by some means of traceable identification);

(4)

Cause a disturbance by excessive barking or noise making, near the private residence of another or to the extent that the barking or noise disturbs the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or can be heard from within the residence of another;

(5)

Produce odors or unclean conditions sufficient to offend a person of normal sensibilities or which creates a condition conducive to the breeding of flies or other pests;

(6)

Chase vehicles, or molest, attack or interfere with other animals or persons. or is at large on public or private property (except at a decimated dog park): or

(7)

Create a condition that is dangerous to human life or health, renders the ground, the water, the air or the food a hazard or injurious to human life or health or that is offensive to the senses, or that is detrimental to public health.

Quarantine means to take into custody, place in confinement, and isolate from human beings and other animals. The quarantine period for a dog, cat, or domestic ferret for rabies observation is ten days or 240 hours from the date and time of the bite, scratch or other exposure, or as recommended by the regional veterinarian from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Rabies control authority means the animal services manager or other designee of the public health administrator.

Registration means a rabies certificate issued by a licensed veterinarian and an identification tag recognized by animal services from an approved issuing agent.

Rabies means an acute viral disease of persons and animals affecting the central nervous system, usually transmitted by an animal bite or saliva.

Restraint means to control an animal by physical means sufficient for that animal so that it remains on the premises of the owner or, when off the owner's premises, by means of a cage, or leash or rope under the direct control of a person of sufficient strength to control the animal. Physical confinement does not include confinement by a radio fence.

Riding school or stable means any place or facility used for the business of hiring out, boarding or giving instructions for riding upon any horse, pony, mule or donkey.

Small animal facility means any place or facility used for the business of breeding or raising rats, mice, hamsters, rabbits, minks, guinea pigs or other similar small animals for profit.

Sterilized means an animal rendered incapable of reproduction by means approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Tether means to chain, tie, fasten or otherwise secure an animal to a fixed point so that it can move or range only within certain limits.

Traceable identification means a type of identification, such as a tag, microchip, or tattoo that can be readily used by an animal control officer or animal services to identify the current ownership of an animal.

Vaccination means the inoculation of an animal with a rabies vaccine that is licensed by the United Sates Department of Agriculture for use in that species and which is administered according to the label's directions by a veterinarian for the purpose of immunizing the animal against rabies.

Veterinarian means a veterinarian licensed to practice in the State of Texas.

Veterinary hospital means any facility operated by a licensed veterinarian for the diagnosis and treatment of animal injuries and illnesses.

Wildlife educational center means an organization that has met all of the state and federal requirements to possess wildlife for educational purposes.

Zoological park means any facility, other than a pet shop, kennel, or wildlife education center, displaying or exhibiting one or more species of non-domesticated animals, and operated by a person, partnership, corporation or governmental entity.

(Ord. No. 2008-62, § 2, 12-16-08; Ord. No. 2009-19, § 2, 3-31-09)