Ordinance 254507/30/85
WSS/na 2545
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF EDMONDS, WASHINGTON,
AMENDING CHAPTER 5.05 RELATING TO ANIMAL CONTROL
BY AMENDING SECTION 5.05.070 TO PROVIDE FOR
CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS, AMENDING SECTION 5.05.080
RELATING TO THE ALLOWANCE OF A PUBLIC NUISANCE
TO PROVIDE FOR THE DISPOSAL OF ANIMAL WASTES,
ENACTING A NEW SECTION 5.05.085 REQUIRING OWNERS
TO HAVE A MEANS OF DISPOSAL FOR ANIMAL WASTES,
AMENDING 5.05.100 TO PROVIDE FOR LIMITED PUBLIC
AREAS WHERE DOGS MAY BE TAKEN, ENACTING NEW
SECTIONS 5.05.130-139 RELATING TO ABATEMENT OF
NUISANCES, DEFINING THE NUISANCES, PROVIDING
FOR APPEAL FROM A NUISANCE ABATEMENT ORDER AND
ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES THEREFORE, REPEALING
SUBSECTIONS 5.05.180(A)(F) AND (H), PROVIDING FOR
THE SEVERABILITY OF SAID OFFENSES AND FIXING A
TIME WHEN THE SAME SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE.
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Edmonds,
Washington, finds that the unregulated defecation of dogs within
the city limits of the City of Edmonds represents a significant
public health hazard;
WHEREAS, the City Council wishes to provide for the
regulation of pets and pet owners within the City in a reasonable
manner, and
WHEREAS, the City Council wishes to prevent the
inhumane treatment of animals and to provide an administrative
hearing procedure to govern impoundment of animals found to be
public nuisances within the City, now, therefore,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF EDMONDS, WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 5.05.070 Running at Large
Prohibited of the Edmonds City Code is hereby amended to read as
follows:
Section 5.05.070 Running at Large Prohibited.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or person having
charge, care, custody or control of any animal or
domestic animal to allow such dog or animal to run at
large during any hours of the day or night. This
Section shall not apply to:
1. Dogs owned by the City or other law
enforcement body and maintained as Police K-9
units while under the custody and control of the
trainer or keeper; and
2. Cats.
Animal control officers or any other law enforcement
officer may pursue any animal running at large, on to
private property in an attempt to take up and impound
said animal.
Section 2. Section 5.05.080 Allowing Public Nuisance
is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 5.05.080 Allowing Public Nuisance.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or person having
charge of any dog or other animal to permit, either
willfully or by failure to exercise due care, such
animal to commit a public nuisance by defecating in any
area of the City other than the premises of the owner
or person having charge or control of the animal,
unless said owner or person having charge takes
immediate steps to remove and properly dispose of said
feces. Disposal is defined, for the purposes of this
ordinance, as the removal of feces by the means of a
bag, scoop or other device and an eventual disposal in
a trash receptacle, by burying or by other means of
lawful disposal
Section 3. Chapter 5.05 of the Edmonds City Code is
hereby amended by the addition of a new Section 5.05.085 relating
to means of disposal of animal feces to read as follows:
Section 5.05.085 Means of Disposal.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or person having
charge of any dog or other animal, to take said animal
off of the private property of the owner or person
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having charge of such dog or animal without having in
the possession of the owner or person having charge of
the dog or animal, a proper means of disposal for the
feces of the dog or other animal.
Section 4. Section 5.05.100 Dogs on Public Grounds of
the Edmonds City Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
repealed.
Section 5.05.100 Dogs on Public Grounds.
It shall be unlawful for an owner to allow any dog to
stray and/or enter with or without a leash or other
means of restraint upon any school ground, playfield,
park, beach or other public property provided, however,
the dogs accompanied by their owners and on a leash not
more than eight (8) feet in length may be walked or
exercised within a limited access corridor south of the
Union Oil loading terminal within Edmonds Marina Beach
Park, such area being further described to be a walking
strip 50 feet in width, at the entrance of and along
the east end of Edmonds Marina Beach Park. Except as
provided above, no dog shall be permitted to stray
and/or enter any area of the Edmonds Marina Beach Park
other than the walking strip defined above. Nothing
herein shall be determined to require the posting of
public grounds and their parks to exclude such animals,
provided that such postings may be undertaken at the
discretion of the Director of Parks and Recreation.
Section 5. Section 5.05.130 Vicious Dogs is hereby
Section 6. Chapter 5.05 is hereby amended by the
addition of new sections 5.05.130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136,
137, 138 and 139 relating to the abatement of certain nuisances
to read as follows:
Section 5.05.130 Nuisance Declared - Abatement.
Violations of the provisions of Section 5.05.131 of
this Code are determined to be detrimental to the
public health, safety and welfare and are declared to
be detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare
and are declared to be public nuisances and shall be
abated as provided herein:
(a) Any animal constituting a public nuisance as
provided herein shall be abated and removed from
the City and Snohomish and King Counties by the
owner, upon receipt of three notices and orders of
violation by the owner in any one-year period.
Where it is established by record pursuant to this
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chapter and no finding was entered showing that
the owner will be able to provide reasonable
restraints to protect the public from repetitions
of violations, the animal control authority shall
notify and direct the owner of the animal to abate
or remove the same from the City and Counties
within ninety-six hours from the date of notice.
If such animal is found to be within the confines
of the City and Counties after ninety-six hours
have elapsed from the date of notice, the same
shall be abated and removed by the director of the
animal control authority. Animals removed pur-
suant to the provisions of this section shall be
removed from the City and County or be subjected
to euthanasia by the animal control authority.
(b) Any dog or other animal which bites, attacks,
or attempts to bite one or more persons two or
more times within a two-year period is declared to
be a public nuisance and shall not be kept within
the City or Snohomish and King Counties forty-
eight hours after receiving written notice from
the animal control authority, if the owner or
custodian of the dog or other animal is known by a
license or other identification. Such animal or
animals found in violation of this section will be
impounded and disposed of as an unredeemed animal,
and the owner or keeper of such animal has no
right to redeem such dog or animal; provided, that
the owner or custodian shall have the right to
file an appeal as provided in Section 5.05.138 and
the animal shall not be disposed of after the
receipt of a Notice of Appeal until the appeal has
been heard and determined as provided in this
chapter.
(c) Any dog or other animal which shall maul or
kill any person or other animal in an unprovoked
attack and which in the opinion of the animal
control authority constitutes a continuing threat
to the public health, safety and welare shall be
impounded and disposed of as an unredeemed animal,
and the owner or person having charge thereof
shall have no right to redeem such dog or animal;
provided, that the owner or custodian shall have
the right to file an appeal as provided in Section
5.05.138, and the animal shall not be disposed of
after the receipt of a Notice of Appeal until the
appeal has been heard and determined as provided
in this chapter.
5.05.131 Violations to be Abated.
For purposes of this chapter, nuisances are violations
of this section and shall be defined as follows:
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(1) Any public nuisance relating to animal control
known at common law or in equity jurisprudence;
(2) Any domesticated animal which chases, runs
after or jumps at vehicles using the public streets and
alleys;
(3) Any domesticated animal which habitually
snaps, growls, snarls, jumps upon or otherwise
threatens persons lawfully using the public sidewalks,
streets, alleys or other public ways;
(4) Any animal which has exhibited vicious
propensities and which constitutes a danger to the
safety of persons or property off his premises or
lawfully on his premises;
(5) A vicious animal or animal with vicious
propensities which runs at large at any time, or such
an animal off the owner's premises not securely leashed
on a line or confined and in the control of a person of
suitable age and discretion to control or restrain such
animal;
(6) Any domesticated animal which howls, yelps,
whines, barks or makes other oral noises, in such a
manner as to disturb any person or neighborhood to an
unreasonable degree;
(7) Animals kept, harbored or maintained and known
to have a contagious disease unless under the treatment
of a licensed veterinarian; and
(8) Animals running in packs.
5.05.132 Impoundment of Nuisances.
The animal control authority and its authorized
representatives are authorized to apprehend and impound
any animals found doing any of the acts defined as a
public nuisance and/or being subjected to cruel
treatment as herein defined. The animal shall be
impounded and held in accordance with the provisions of
Section 5.05.050, provided that animals apprehended in
accordance with the provisions of Section 5.05.130(b)
and/or (c) shall be released only as therein provided.
5.05.133 Cruelty Violations Declared Unlawful.
It is unlawful for any person to:
(1) Willfully and cruelly injure or kill any
animal by any means causing it fright or pain;
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(2) By reason of neglect or intent to cause or
allow any animal to endure pain, suffering or injury or
to fail or neglect to aid or attempt alleviation of
pain, suffering or injury he has so caused to any
animal;
(3) Lay out or expose any kind of poison, or to
leave exposed any poison food or drink for man, animal
or fowl, or any substance or fluid whatever whereon or
wherein there is or shall be deposited or mingled, any
kind of poison or poisonous or deadly substance or
fluid whatever, on any premises, or in any unenclosed
place, or to aid or abet any person in so doing, unless
in accordance with the provisions of RCW 16.52.190;
(4) Abandon any domestic animal by dropping off or
leaving such animal on the street, road or highway, or
in any other public place, or on the private property
of another; or
(5) Confine any animal without adequate water, air
and/or food or in a confinement in which the animal is
subjected to extremes of heat or cold; for example, but
not limited to, confinement within an automobile
without adequate ventilation or protection from
extremes of temperature.
5.05.134 Abatement - Commencement.
Whenever an authorized animal control officer has found
an animal maintained in violation of this Code, the
animal control authority shall commence proceedings to
cause the abatement of each violation.
5.05.135 Abatement - Contents of Notice and Order.
The authorized animal control officer shall issue a
notice and order directed to the owner or the person
presumed to be the owner of the animal maintained in
violation of this chapter. The notice and order shall
contain:
(1) The name and address if known of the owner or
person presumed to be the owner of the animal in
violation of this chapter;
(2) The license number, if available, and
description of the animal in violation sufficient for
identification;
(3) A statement that the authorized animal control
officer has found the animal maintained illegally with
a brief and concise description of the conditions,
found to render the animal in violation of this
chapter;
(4) A statement of the action required to be taken
as determined by the Chief of Police as head of the
animal control authority:
a. If the Chief has determined the animal
must be abated, the order shall require the
abatement shall be completed within a time
certain from the date of the order as
determined by the Chief to be reasonable,
b. If the head of the animal control
authority has determined to assess a civil
penalty, the order shall require that the
penalty shall be paid within fourteen days
from the date of the order;
(5) Statements advising that if any required
abatement is not commenced within the time specified,
the director of the animal control authority will
proceed to cause abatement and charge the costs thereof
against the owner;
(6) Statements advising (a) that a person having a
legal interest in the animal may appeal from the notice
and order or any action of the director of the animal
control authority to the Hearing Examiner; provided the
appeal is made in writing as provided by this chapter,
and filed with the head of the animal control authority
within fourteen days from the date of service of such
notice and order; and (b) that failure to appeal will
constitute a waiver of all right to an administrative
hearing and determination of the matter;
(7) Nothing herein shall be deemed to limit the
authority of any police office or authorized animal
control officer to take up and impound an animal as
herein provided.
5.05.136 Abatement - Service of Notice.
Notice shall be served in accordance with the following
provisions:
(1) The notice and order shall be served on the
owner or presumed owner of the animal in violation;
(2) Service of the order shall be made upon all
persons entitled thereto either personally or by
mailing a copy of such notice and order by certified
mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested to each
person at his/her address as it appears on the last
equalization assessment roll of the County, if so
listed.
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(3) Proof of service of the notice and order shall
be made at the time of service by a written declaration
under penalty of perjury executed by the person
affecting service, declaring the time, date and manner
in which service was made.
5.05..137 Appeal - Authority_.
The Hearing Examiner of the City of Edmonds is
designated to hear appeals by parties aggrieved by
actions of the animal control authority pursuant to the
provisions of 5.05.130 to 5.05.136 of this chapter.
All decisions and findings of the Hearing Examiner
shall be in writing with a copy to the Chief of Police
as head of the animal control authority.
5.05.138 Appeal - Form Any person entitled to service
under Section 5.05.135 or 5.05.130 may appeal from any
notice and order or any action of the animal control
authority under this code by filing at the office of
the Chief of Police within fourteen (14) days from the
date of the service of such order or within forty-eight
(48) hours of a notice under Section 5.05.130(b) or (c)
a written appeal containing:
(1) A caption reading: "Appeal of
giving the names of all appellants participating in the
appeal;
(2) A brief statement setting forth the legal
interest of each of the appellants in the animal
involved in the notice and order;
(3) A brief statement in concise language of the
specific order or action protested, together with any
material facts claimed to support the contentions of
the appellant;
(4) A brief statement in concise language of the
relief sought, and the reasons why it is claimed the
protested order or action should be reversed, modified
or otherwise set aside;
(5) The signatures of all parties' names as
appellants, and their official mailing addresses;
(6) The verification (by declaration under penalty
of perjury) of at least one appellant as to the truth
of the matters stated in the appeal.
5.05.139 Appeal - Procedures;
(1) The Hearing Examiner shall set a time and
place, not more than thirty (30) days from such notice
of appeal for hearing thereon. Written notice of the
time and place of hearing shall be given at least ten
(10) days prior to the date of the hearing to each
appellant.
(2) At the hearing the appellant shall be entitled
to appear in person and be represented by counsel and
offer such evidence pertinent and material to the
action of the director. Only those matters or issues
specifically raised by the appellant in the written
notice of appeal shall be considered.
(3) Failure of any person to file an appeal in
accordance with Section 5.05.138 shall constitute a
waiver of his right to an administrative hearing.
(4) Enforcement of any notice and order of the
animal control authority issued under this chapter
shall be stayed during the pending of an appeal except
impoundment of an animal which is (1) vicious or
dangerous; or (2) cruelly treated.
Section 7. Section 5.05.180 relating to miscellaneous
regulations is hereby amended by the repeal of subsections A, F
and H. The City Clerk is authorized to renumber the remaining
subsections for the purposes of codification.
Section 8. The provisions of this ordinance shall be
severable and in the event that any provision of this ordinance
or the application of this ordinance to any set of circumstances
shall be overturned by a court of competent jurisdiction, the
remaining portions of this ordinance or applications thereof to
specific sets of circumstances shall remain in full force and
effect.
Section 9. This ordinance or a summary thereof
consisting of the title, shall be published in the official
newspaper of the City and shall take effect and be in full force
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five (5) days after the date of publication.
APPROVED:
cre� t1tL—
MAYOR, LARRY F. qnGHTEN
ATTEST/AUTHENTICATED:
TY CLERK, JA QUELINE G. PARRETT
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY:
BY
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: August 6, 1985
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: December 17, 1985
PUBLISHED: December 22, 1985
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 27, 1985
ORDINANCE NO. 2545
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STATE OF WASHINGTON,
COUNTY OF SNOH0IV1ISH,
At
5.05 RELATING TO AN-
L CONTROL - BY
ENDING - SECTION
K0 TO PROVIDE •FOR
F FfTIVF 1'FrF 'Ar
A
PE
EXCEPTIONS, .AMENDING
SECTION 5.05.080: RELATING
TO THE ALLOWANCE: OF . A'
PUBLIC NUISANCE TO Pko-
VIDE. FOR! THE 'DISPOSAL
OF ANIMAL.. WASTES,
ENACTING -A NEW SECTION.
5.05.685 REQUIRING OWN-
ERS TO HAVE MEANS OF
DISPOSAL FOR ANIMAL
WASTES, AMENDING
5.05.100- TO ,PROVIDE FOR
LIMITED- t'UBLiC AREAS
WHERE DOGS -MAY' BE
TAKEN, ('ENACTING NEW
SECTIONS 5.05.130-139 RE-
LATING, ;TO ABATEMENT
OF' NUISANCES; DEFINING
THE NUISANCES; - PROVID-
ING FOR .APPEAL FROM. A
NUISANCE`: ABATEMENT
ORDER -AND-ESTABLISH-
ING' PROCEDURES THERE-
FORE, REPEALING SUB-
SECTIONS '-5.05.180(A). (F)
AND (H), PROVIDING FOR
THE SEVERABILITY— OF 1
SAID Of`FENSES AND FIX-'
ING :A. TIME WHEN THE.
SAME SHALL BECOME EF-
FECTIVE. The full text of the
vdindnce Will be mailed to
mV person' upoh feauesi.
Published:. DeceMber- 22,
Affidavit of Publication
The undersigned, being first duly sworn on oath deposes and says
that she is Principal Clerk of THE HERALD, a daily newspaper
printed and published in the City of Everett, County of Snohomish,
and State of Washington; that said newspaper is a newspaper of
general circulation in said County and State; that said newspaper
has been approved as a legal newspaper by order of the Superior
Court of Snohomish County and that the notice -....-..-.-_..........................
.-.... O r d i nAn c e ..... 5 4.5....................
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a printed copy of which is hereunto attached, was published in said
newspaper proper and not in supplement form, in the regular and
entire edition of said paper on the following days and times, namely:
December 22, 1985
................................ ..... ............ _---------'----.............—..................•--'--•-....•.....................
and that said newspaper was regularly distributed to its subscribers
during all of said pe�iod.
_ � 1
4111 LEz-------
Principal Clerk
Subscribed and sworn to before me this-------. ---. .. rd
day of------- - D e - e mb a --------------------------------- 19....8 5
/j
ti Y� .�/�
N t ry Pu, is in and for the State of Washington,
S si ing at Everett, Snohomish County.
B-2-1