(a)   Every owner of any dog 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 owned and kept within the city. It shall be unlawful for the owner of any newly acquired dog or any dog brought into the city to fail to register such animal within 30 days from acquisition or bringing the dog into the city. It shall be unlawful for the owner of any previously registered dog to fail to maintain current registration of such dog.

(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 over six months of age to fail to maintain effective rabies immunization of such dog.

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

(d)   The city clerk shall collect an annual registration fee of $3 for each neutered male dog and for each spayed female dog, and $10 for each unneutered male dog and for each unspayed female dog.

(e)   The registration year shall be from January 1st through December 31st of each year. The fee shall be payable before March 1st of each year without penalty.

Registration fees as enumerated above may be prorated for newly acquired dogs or for dogs owned by a person or persons moving to and establishing a home in the city during a calendar year. Every owner or harborer of dog or dogs who shall fail to register the same prior to the 1st day of March of each year shall pay in addition to the registration fee herein provided a penalty fee for late registration of $5.

(Code 1978, 3-202; Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)

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, 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 a certificate in writing, stating that the person has registered the dog and the number by which the dog is registered, and shall also deliver to the owner or keeper of the dog 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 so registered. When any tag has become lost during a registration period, the owner of the dog 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 $1 fee. It shall be unlawful for any person to take off or remove the city registration tag from any dog belonging to another, or remove the strap or collar on which the same is fastened.

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

(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)

It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dog 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 within two years, when requested by the animal control officer or any law enforcement officer.

(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)

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

(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)

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

(b)   For the first offense of an animal running at large, the owner or harborer claiming any animal, shall, in addition to presenting a registration receipt, pay the cost of the board bill and pay a fine of not more than $25. For a second offense within a one year period, the owner or harborer shall pay a fine of not more than $50 plus the board bill. For a third and all subsequent offenses within a one year period, the owner or harborer shall pay a fine of not more than $100 plus the cost of the board bill.

Any unspayed female dog 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 dogs 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 nuisance, 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.

(Code 1978, 3-209; Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)

Whenever the mayor shall deem it necessary for the protection and welfare of the inhabitants of the city, he or she shall issue an order requiring all dogs kept within the city to be effectively muzzled for such length of time as may be specified in the order, to prevent them from biting or injuring persons or animals. Such order shall be published in the official newspaper of the city for such period of time as the mayor may deem necessary.

(Code 1994; Code 2003; Code 2015)