2014-07 Code Amendment Prohibiting Retail Sale of Dogs and CatsORDINANCE NO. 2014 -07
AN ORDINANCE OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF
NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA AMENDING CHAPTER 4, "ANIMALS
AND FOWL," OF THE VILLAGE CODE OF ORDINANCES TO PROHIBIT
THE RETAIL SALE OF DOGS AND CATS AND REGULATE BREEDING
ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE VILLAGE; AMENDING SECTION 4 -1,
"DEFINITIONS;" CREATING A NEW SECTION 4 -13, "BREEDING AND
RETAIL SALE OF DOGS AND CATS;" PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION;
PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; AND
PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, according to the Human Society of the United States, hundreds of thousands
of dogs and cats have been housed and bred at substandard breeding facilities, known as "puppy
or kitten mills" that mass - produce animals for sale to the public, primarily at pet stores; and
WHEREAS, cats and dogs bred in puppy or kitten mills often suffer from health, social
and /or temperament problems that sometimes result in costly treatment or death; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the congenital and hereditary conditions resulting from
substandard breeding facilities, dogs and cats bred at these facilities may arrive in pet stores and
their new homes with giardia, parvovirus and distemper, illnesses that can be transmitted to
healthy animals; and
WHEREAS, while not all dogs and cats sold in retail pet stores are the product of
inhumane breeding conditions and not every commercial breeder selling dogs or cats to pet
stores operates a puppy or kitten mill, these facilities continue to exist in part because of public
demand for the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores; and
WHEREAS, according to the Humane Society of the United States, Florida has the
largest number of consumer complaints and the highest number of complaints about puppies
purchased from pet stores; and
WHEREAS, the Village Council determines that prohibiting puppy and kitten mills and
the retail sale of dogs and cats in the Village will promote community awareness of animal
welfare and will encourage pet consumers to adopt dogs and cats from shelters, thereby saving
the lives of animals and reducing the cost to the public of sheltering animals.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE
OF NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA as follows:
Section 1. The foregoing "whereas" clauses are hereby ratified as true and are incorporated herein.
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Section 2. The Village Council hereby amends Chapter 4, "Animals and Fowl," of the
Village Code of Ordinances to read as follows (additional language underlined and deleted
language stri ke th, oath):
See. 4 -1. Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates:
Animal rescue organization means a duly incorporated non - profit
organization devoted to the rescue, care and adoption of stray, abandoned or
surrendered animals and which does not breed animals.
Animal shelter means a public animal shelter or shelter operated by an
animal rescue organization.
Bite includes an abrasion of the skin.
Cat includes any feline.
Dog includes any canine.
License year means the period between the first day of June in any
calendar year and the last day of May in the following calendar year.
Owner includes any person, firm, partnership, trustee, association or
corporation owning, keeping, harboring or otherwise maintaining a dog or cat. In
any prosecution under this chapter where it shall be found that a cat or dog is in
the custody or under control of a minor, it shall be presumed that the owner of
such cat or dog is the parent or legal guardian of such minor.
Pet store means any retail establishment whether operated separately or in
conjunction with another business enterprise open to the public that sells or transfers
of offers for sale or transfer, dogs or cats regardless of the age of the animal.
Pet store operator means a person or entity that owns or operates a pet store.
Puppy or kitten mill means a facility where dogs or cats are bred for the
purpose of selling them and where any two (2) of the following conditions are
found to exist:
(� More than twenty (20) puppies under the age of twelve (12) weeks
or more than twenty kittens under the age of sixteen (16) weeks are
kept at a single time;
(22,) No genetic (heredity) health testing appropriate for the breed is
conducted,
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No long-term (over one 1) year) uarantees are offered;
A single female is bred every cycle;
(55,) A single female is bred over five (5 ) times;
(66,) There is no record of the dogs' or cats' parents; or
(77,) More than eight (8) dogs or kittens are kept in a single cage or
kennel area.
Running at large refers to a dog or cat off the premises of its owner and
not under the immediate eye and control of the owner or person acting for the owner.
Sec. 4 -2. Village designated bird sanctuary; hunting prohibited.
(a) The land lying within the municipal limits of the village is hereby
declared to be a bird sanctuary.
(b) It shall be unlawful to intentionally kill, injure or otherwise destroy
any bird found within the bird sanctuary.
Sec. 4 -3. Killing; poisoning.
(a) No person shall willfully and maliciously kill, maim or disfigure
any dog, cat or other animal of another person, or willfully and maliciously administer
poison to any dog, cat or other animal of another person, or expose any poisonous
substance with intent that the same shall be taken and swallowed by them.
(b) No person shall leave or deposit any poison or any substance
containing poison, in any common street, alley, lane or thoroughfare, or in any
yard or enclosure other than the yard or enclosure occupied or owned by such person;
provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful to leave or deposit insecticides
that are not prohibited by any village ordinance on a swale area in the village.
Sec. 4 -4. Hindering enforcement.
It shall be unlawful to hinder or molest any police officer, or other
authorized person engaged in the enforcement of this chapter.
Sec. 4 -5. General enforcement.
The chief of police and such other persons as may be designated by the
chief or the village manager are hereby authorized and directed to enforce this chapter.
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Sec. 4 -6. Keeping certain animals prohibited; exceptions.
(a) No person shall keep, possess or maintain any live animal,
including fowl, within the village, except as follows: Dogs, cats, parrots, parakeets,
canaries, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils and turtles may be kept, possessed
and maintained as household pets within the village so long as they are kept,
possessed and maintained in compliance with the provisions of this chapter; and
provided, further, that these household pets do not constitute a nuisance to neighbors
because of excessive noise or odors. Proper sanitary measures shall be observed
and followed at all times in connection with the keeping, maintaining or possessing
of such pets.
(b) Any person desiring to keep, possess or maintain any live animal,
including fowl, which is not enumerated in paragraph (a) of this section may do
so only after written request therefor to the village manager, who shall at his
discretion either grant or deny such request based upon considerations of
protecting public health, safety and welfare.
Sec. 4 -7. Cruelty to animals.
No person shall overdrive, overload, drive when overloaded, overwork,
torture, cruelly beat, mutilate or needlessly kill, or carry or transport in any
vehicle or other conveyance in a cruel or inhumane manner, any animal, or fail to
provide any animal in his charge or custody with necessary sustenance, drink, and
protection from the elements, or cause any of these acts to be done.
Sec. 4 -8. Causing animals to fight.
It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or use, or in any way be
connected with, or be interested in the management of, or receive money for the
admission of any person to, any place kept or used for the purpose of fighting or baiting
any animal, or to engage in, aid, abet, encourage or assist in any animal fight.
Sec. 4 -9. Molesting songbirds or domestic pets.
No person shall frighten, shoot at, wound, kill, take, capture, ensnare, net,
trap or in any other manner molest or injure any robin, lark, whipporwill, finch,
sparrow, thrush, wren, martin, swallow, snowbird, bobolink, red - winged blackbird,
crow, raven, oriole, kingbird, mockingbird, song - sparrow, or other songbird or
insectivorous bird, or in any manner molest or injure the nest eggs or young of
any such bird; or have in his possession the nest eggs, young or body of such bird,
or wound or kill any domestic pets found within the village.
Sec. 4 -10. Abandoning.
No person shall desert or abandon any dog or other animal within the village.
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Sec. 4 -11. Animals with contagious diseases.
(a) No person owning any dog or cat, knowing it to be afflicted with
any contagious disease or in an unhealthy condition, shall permit such dog or cat
to be out in public within the village limits.
(b) If a police officer, for any reason, suspects that a dog or cat while
running at large is not in a healthy condition or that it is suffering from any
contagious disease, such officer shall impound such dog or cat and deliver it to a
licensed veterinarian in the village or the vicinity thereof, and if it be determined by
such veterinarian that the disease is incurable, such dog or cat shall be humanely
destroyed or otherwise humanely disposed of in the discretion of the police officer.
Sec. 4 -12. Animals creating nuisances.
(a) The owner of any animal which habitually barks, whines, howls, or
causes other objectionable noise, or which destroys or damages any property of
another person or which causes serious annoyance to a neighboring residence and
interferes with the reasonable use and enjoyment of his property, or which is
otherwise offensive so as to create a nuisance shall be deemed to be committing
an act in violation of this section.
(b) Upon receipt of an "affidavit of complaint," signed by two (2) or
more residents of the village, each complainant residing in separate dwellings in
the vicinity in which the violation and issue occurred, made under oath before an
individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments, setting forth the nature
and the date of the act, the owner of the animal, the address of the owner and a
description of the animal doing such act, the law enforcement officer, animal
control officer or his or her agent shall investigate the complaint to determine
whether the act complained of violates this section.
Sec. 4 -13. Breeding and retail sale of dogs and cats.
Ca,) Puppy or Kitten Mills. It shall be unlawful for any person or entity
to establish, operate or maintain a puppy or kitten mill within the corporate limits
of the village.
Q2� Sale or transfer of dogs or cats. It shall be unlawful for a pet store to
display, sell, deliver, barter, lease, rent, auction, give away, transfer, offer for sale or
transfer, or otherwise dispose of dogs or cats within the corporate limits of the village.
O Exemptions. This section shall not apply to:
A person who sells, delivers, offers for sale, trades, barters, leases,
rents, auctions, gives away or otherwise transfers or disposes of a
dog or cat that was bred and reared on property owned by the person
provided that the person is not operating a puppy or kitten mill, the
person is not a pet dealer as defined in chapter 828 F.S., and the
property is not a pet store;
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M An animal shelter;
An animal rescue organization; or
(4) An animal shelter or animal rescue organization that operates out
of or in conjunction with a pet store.
W) Adoption of shelter and rescue animals. Nothing in this section
shall prevent a pet store or its owner, operator or employees from providing space
and appropriate care for animals owned by or in the custody of an animal shelter
or animal rescue organization and maintained at the pet store for the purpose of
offering the animals for adoption by members of the public.
Ce� Violations enforcement. The provisions of this section shall be
enforced in accordance with section 1 -8 of this code.
Section 3. The provisions of this Ordinance shall become and be made a part of the Code of
the Village of North Palm Beach, Florida.
Section 4. If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this Ordinance is for
any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional, inoperative or void,
such holding shall not affect the remainder of this Ordinance.
Section 5. All ordinances or parts of ordinances and resolutions or parts of resolutions in
conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict.
Section 6. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon adoption.
PLACED ON FIRST READING THIS 24th DAY OF JULY, 2014.
PLACED ON SECOND, FINAL READING AND PASSED THIS 14th DAY OF AUGUST, 2014.
(Village Seal)
ATTEST:
VILLAGE CLERK
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND
LEGAL SUFFICIENCY:
VILLAGE ATTORNEY
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� �! Liz�
MAYOR