HomeMy WebLinkAboutORDINANCES - 09011987 - 87-74 ORDINANCE NO. 87- 74
(Regulation of Dangerous Animals
and Potentially Dangerous Animals )
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors ordains as follows
(omitting the parenthetical footnotes from the official text of
the enacted or amended provisions of the County Ordinance Code) :
SECTION I . SUMMARY. This ordinance amends Article 416-12 . 4,
Dangerous Animals , to provide for designation and regulation of
potentially dangerous animals ; to restrict future ownership of
dangerous animals ; to give the director of animal services d,t;scre-
tion to destroy a dangerous animal that cannot be safely main-
tained; and to require a declaration of insurance as a permit
condition .
SECTION II . Section 416-12 . 401 Potentially Dangerous Animals is
added^to the County Ordinance Code to read:
416-12 . 401 . Potentially Dangerous Animal .
(a) Any animal , except a dog assisting a peace officer
engaged in law enforcement duties , which has any of the following
characteristics is a potentially dangerous animal :
( 1 ) has a known propensity, disposition or tendency for
unprovoked attack, which may cause injury or threaten the safety
of humans or domestic animals;
( 2) has been specially trained to guard persons and/or
property;
( 3) is unlicensed;
(4) has engaged in any behavior that constitutes a phys-
ical threat of bodily harm to a person or domestic animal .
(b) The Director may issue a notice designating an animal
exhibiting the aforementioned characteristics as potentially
dangerous and may recommend that the animal ' s owner take certain
actions to prevent future injury by the animal . (Ord . 87- 74
S 2 . ) —
SECTION—III . Section 416-12 .402 Dangerous Animals is amended to
read :�
416-12 .402 . Dangerous Animals . Any animal , except a dog
assisting a peace officer engaged in law enforcement duties , which
demonstrates any of the following behavior , is rebuttably presumed
dangerous :
(a) An attack which requires a defensive action by any per-
son to prevent bodily injury and/or property damage in a place
where such person is conducting himself peacefully and lawfully;
(b) An attack on another animal or livestock 'which occurs
off the property of the owner of the attacking animal ;
(c) An attack that results in an injury to a person in a
place where such person is conducting himself peacefully and
lawfully;
(d) Any behavior that constitutes a physical threat of
bodily harm to a person in a place where such person is conducting
himself peacefully and lawfully.
a
(e ) Repetition of behavior that resulted the animal ' s
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prior_designation_as_a_potentially_dangerous_animal_pursuant_to
section 416-12 . 401 .
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For the purposes of this section , a person is peaceably and
lawfully upon the private property of an owner or possessor of the
animal when he is on such property in the performance of any duty
imposed upon him by the laws of this state or any city or county,
or by the laws or postal regulations of the United States , or when
he is on such property upon invitation, express or implied.
(Ord. 87-_74__, S 3 . )
SECTION IV. Section 416-12 .426 Restriction on Future Ownership is
hereby—added to the County Ordinance Code to read:
416-12 .426 . Restriction on Future Ownership.
(a) Any person who owns , possesses , keeps or harbors an ani-
mal determined to be dangerous pursuant to section 416-12.404 of
this Article, without a dangerous animal permit may after oppor-
tunity for hearing and a finding of good cause by the Animal
Services Director , be subject to restrictions on his ownership of
other animals of the species for a period of five (5) years after
the original determination of danger .
(Ord . 87-_74_, § 4 . )
(b) At least fifteen (15 ) days prior to imposition of
restrictions , the director shall mail or otherwise deliver to the
person on whom restrictions are proposed a notice containing a
statement of the reasons supporting the imposition of restrictions
and specifying the proposed restrictions and notice of the per-
son ' s right to request , in writing within five days of receipt of
the notice , a hearing before the director as to the existence of
good cause for imposition of restrictions . If a hearing is
requested , the director shall mail or otherwise deliver to the
requesting party notice of the time and place of the hearing. If ,
after hearing , the director determines that good cause for imposi -
tion of restrictions exists , he/she shall impose the specified
restrictions within ten (10) days after mailing notice of his/her
decision . If no hearing is requested , the director shall impose
restrictions within fifteen days of the original notice .
SECTION V. Section 416-12 . 405 is added to the County Ordinance
Code to read:
416-12 . 405 . Destruction of Dangerous Animal . After the
notice and hearing provided for in section 416-12 .404 , the animal
services director may further find, in writing with supporting
reasons , that an animal is so dangerous , or that other special
circumstances exist , such that maintaining the animal poses a
substantial threat to public health and safety . Ten days after
mailing notice of a finding under this section, the animal ser-
vices director may dispose of any such dangerous animal by
humanely destroying it by injection .
(Ord. 87- 74__9 S 5 . )
SECTION_ VI . Subsection ( i ) is added to section 416-12. 414 of the
County O—rUinance Code to read:
416-12 .414( i ) . Provision to the Animal Services Director of
a declaration under penalty of perjury stating that the permitee:
ORDINANCE NO. 87- 74
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(1 ) Possesses public liability insurance from an insurer
licensed to practice in the State of California, in a single inci-
dent amount of not less than fifty thousand dollars ($50 ,000 . 00 )
for each animal , for injury to or death of any person or persons ,
or loss or damage to any property caused by or resulting from any
act or such animal ;
( 2) Will maintain such insurance policy for so long as he
owns , keeps or harbors the animal .
(Ord. 87- 74 _, S 6 . )
S_E_CTION VII . EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance becomes effective 30
days after passage , and within 15 days after passage shall be
published once with the names of supervisors voting for and
against it in the CONTRA _C_O_S_TA TIMES , a newspaper
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published in this County. T3 25123 & 25124
PASSED ON ----September 1 , 1987 ______, by the following vote:
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AYES : Supervisors Powers , Fanden, Torlakson and McPeak
NOES : None
ABSENT: Supervisor Schroder
ABSTAIN: None
ATTEST: PHIL BATCHELOR, Clerk of
the B rd a County Administrator
By:
- O
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Depu y Board�Chair
[SEAL]
ORDINANCE NO. 87- 74
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