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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 12620.~`" ORDINANCE NO. / AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH (1986), AS AMENDED, BY THE AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER 6, "ANIMALS AND FOWL" AS FOLLOWS: ARTICLE II, "RESTRAINT OF ANIMALS," SECTION 6-13, "RESTRAINT OF ANIMALS," BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SUBSECTION (C) , PROVIDING THAT CATS ARE PROHIBITED FROM ROAMING BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF THEIR OWNER'S PREMISES; ARTICLE VI, "ANIMAL CONTROL IMPOUNDMENT; FEES," SECTION 6-43, "IMPOUNDMENT; NOTICE; DISPOSITION," BY THE AMENDMENT OF SUBSECTION (A), SUBPARAGRAPH (1), BY DELETING THE EXCEPTION TO THE IMPOUNDMENT OF CATS, AND SECTION 6-43,.SUBSECTION (A) BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SUBPARAGRAPH (10), PROVIDING FOR THE IMPOUNDMENT OF CATS ROAMING BEYOND THEIR OWNER'S PREMISES; PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE IS CUMULATIVE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A FINE OF UP TO $500.00 FOR EACH OFFENSE IN VIOLATION OF THE ORDI- NANCE; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF JANUARY 1, 1997. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS: SECTION 1. That the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, is amended by the amendment of Chapter 6, "Animals and Fowl," Article II, "Restraint of Animals," Section 6-13, "Restraint of animals," by the addition of a new subsection (c), so that hereafter said subsection shall read as follows: "(c) It shall be unlawful for a person having charge, care, or ownership of a cat to fail to keep the cat from roaming beyond the boundaries of the person's premises." Further, that the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, is amended by the amendment of Chapter 6, "Animals and Fowl," Article VI, "Animal Control Impoundment; Fees," Section 6-43, "Impoundment; notice; disposition," subsection (a), - 1 - relating to the authority of the animal control manager to impound animals, subparagraph (1), so that hereafter said subparagraph shall read as follows: ~~ (a) (1) An animal, other than a cat, is at large." Further, that the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, is amended by the amendment of Chapter 6, "Animals and Fowl," Article VI, "Animal Control Impoundment; Fees," Section 6-43, "Impoundment; notice; disposition," subsection (a), relating to the authority of the animal control manager to impound animals, by the addition of a new subparagraph (10) so that hereafter said subparagraph shall read as follows: ~~ (a) (10) A cat is roaming beyond the boundaries of the premises of the person having charge, care, or ownership of the cat." SECTION 2. This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and such Code, in which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed. SECTION 3. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and, if any phrase, clause, sentence, - 2 - paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared unconsti- tutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. SECTION 4. Any person, firm or corporation who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with or who resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be fined not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each offense. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. SECTION 5. All rights and remedies of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, are expressly saved as to any and all violations of the provisions of the ordinances amended in Section 1, which have accrued at the time of the effective date of this ordinance and, as to such accrued violations and all pending litigation, both civil and criminal, whether pending in court or not, under such ordinances, same shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be prosecuted until final disposition by the courts. SECTION 6. The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, is hereby directed to publish the caption and Section 4 of this ordinance - 3 - for two ( 2 j days in the official newspaper of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, as authorized by Section 2, Chapter XXV of the Charter of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, and by Section 52.013, Texas Local Government Code. SECTION 7. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect January 1, 1997, and after its passage and publication as required by law, and it is so ordained. APPROVED_ AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: SI llA7j~ ADOPTED : _ ~-, ~~~ ~O EFFECTIVE: - 4 - City of Fort Worth, Texas Mayor and Council Communication DATE REFERENCE NUMBER LOG NAME PAGE 08/13/96 G-11560 50CATS 1 of 2 SUBJECT ORDINANCE AMENDMENT ADDRESSING THE RESTRAINT OF CATS RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council approve the attached ordinance amending Chapter 6, "Animals and Fowls" of the City Code as follows a Amend Section 6-13, "Restraint of Animals," Subsection (a) to require that cats are prohibited from roaming beyond the boundaries of their owner's premises, effective January 1, 1997 b Amend Animal Section 6-43, "Impoundment Notice, Disposition," Subsection (a) to empower the Animal Control Division to impound cats off their owner's premises effective January 1, 1997 DISCUSSION On March 5, 1996, Informal Report No 7983 was presented to City Council This report provided an analysis of the issue of dog and cat overpopulation and presented a proposal including legislative, enforcement, public education and program education On Tuesday, April 23, 1996, City Council considered the ordinance changes recommended by the Health Department staff based on the Task Force report The ordinance amendment to include cats in the animal restraint ordinance was tabled for sixty days and referred back to the Task Force for review and possible changes The Task Force reconvened to reconsider the cat restraint ordinance on May 7, 1996 At that meeting, the Task Force heard from representatives of Animal Welfare groups and a concerned citizen The Task Force also reviewed a collection of ordinances on cat restraint from other municipalities On May 14, the Task Force discussed the collection of ordinances and unanimously agreed on a compromise proposal on May 21, 1996 Task Force members decided to recommend allowing persons to maintain a cat unrestrained on their own property but not allowing the cat to roam beyond the owner's property The Task Force unanimously approved the proposed ordinance, a copy of which is attached Staff recommends that the City Council approve this ordinance which would provide the Animal Control Division with authority to 1 respond to citizen complaints concerning cats, and 2 to impound free-roaming cats The Inter and Intra Governmental Affairs Committee considered this ordinance on August 8, 1996 They voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council adopt this ordinance Printed on Recycled Paper City of Fort Worth, Texas Mayor and Council Communication DATE 08/13/96 REFERENCE NUMBER G-11560 LOG NAME 50CATS PAGE 2 of 2 SUBJECT ORDINANCE AMENDMENT ADDRESSING THE RESTRAINT OF CATS FISCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION The Director of the Fiscal Services Department certifies that funds are available in the current operating budget, as appropriated, of the General Fund LW•f Submitted for City Manager's FUND ACCOUNT CENTER AMOUNT CITY SECRETARY Office by: (~) Libby Watson 6183 D ~PROVE A Originating Department Head: A ~ v ClT 1 C Q ~ C '~ Dr Nick Curry 7201 (from) A~~ 13 1936 For Additional Information ®~ ~~~ t Contact: ~t~j Cit~~,SO~b Gilt' of F~~t W~ft~t, T~lta~ Dr Nick Curry 7201 Printed on Bagdad Paper