§ 2-201. Cruelty to animals.

A.

Cruel acts and conditions enumerated:

1.

It shall be unlawful for any person:

a.

To willfully or maliciously kill, maim, disfigure or torture, strike, hit or beat with a stick, board, chain, club or other object; mutilate, burn, or scald with any substance; or drive over any domesticated animal, or cruelly set an animal upon another animal, except that reasonable force may be employed to drive off vicious or trespassing animals; or

b.

By any means to make accessible to any animal, with the intent to cause harm or death, any substance which has in any manner been treated or prepared with harmful or poisonous substances (it is not the intent of this subsection to prohibit the use of poisonous substances for the control of vermin of significance to the public health); or

c.

To fail, refuse or neglect to provide any animal in said person's charge or custody as owner or otherwise, with proper food, drink, shade, care, or structurally-sound weatherproof shelter appropriate for the type, age and/or size of the animal; or

d.

To drive or work any animal cruelly; or

e.

To abandon any animal within the City limits; or

f.

To leave any animal confined in a vehicle for more than five (5) minutes in extreme weather conditions, defined as less than thirty (30) degrees Fahrenheit or more than eighty (80) degrees Fahrenheit; or

g.

To transport an animal in the trunk of a vehicle; or

h.

To cause, instigate, stage, or train any animal to fight or permit any fight between any animal and another animal or human; or

i.

To give away any live animal, fish, reptile, or bird as a prize for, or as an inducement to enter a place of amusement; or offer such vertebrate as an incentive to enter into any business agreement whereby the offer was for the purpose of attracting trade; or

j.

To attach chains or other tethers, restraints or implements directly to an animal without the proper use of a collar, harness, or other device designed for that purpose and made from a material that prevents injury to the animal; or

k.

To continuously picket, tether or stake an animal (excluding those used by businesses for security during non-business hours) for more than two (2) continuous hours, except that tethering or staking of the same animal may resume after a hiatus of three (3) continuous hours, for up to six (6) hours total time on a tether or stake per day; provided that for the purpose of tethering or staking an animal, a chain, leash, rope or tether shall be at least 10 feet in length; or

l.

To use a chain, leash, rope, collaring device, tether, or any assembly or attachments thereto to picket an animal that shall weigh more than one-eighth ( 1/8 ) of the animal's body weight, or due to weight, inhibit the free movement of the animal within the area picketed; or

m.

To picket an animal in such a manner as to cause injury, strangulation, or entanglement of the animal on fences, trees, or other manmade or natural obstacles.

2.

Any person who, as the operator of a motor vehicle, strikes a domestic animal shall stop at once and render such assistance as may be possible and shall immediately report any injury or death to the animal's owner; in the event the owner cannot be ascertained and located, such operator shall at once report the accident to the appropriate law enforcement agency or to the local humane society.

B.

Exceptions. Nothing in subsection A. of this section shall:

1.

Be deemed to prohibit any action by a licensed veterinarian done in accordance with accepted standards of veterinary medicine, or any action taken by a law enforcement officer pursuant to the interests of public health and safety; or

2.

Be interpreted as prohibiting any act done in self-defense or done to defend another person.