Garden City Pet Laws
For Residents within the city limits of Garden City, see below.
For Residents in Finney County and outside Garden City limits
City of Garden City Regulations
SECTION 1.
Section 10-69 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Garden City is herby amended and shall read as follows:
Section 10-69 Dogs At Large Prohibited
(a) It shall be unlawful for any dog to run at large within the city. Any dog within the city while off the premises of the owner shall be considered for the purpose of this article to be running at large, with the exception of the following:
- (1) It is controlled by a line or leash not more than 15 feet in length when such line or leash is held by a competent person;
- (2) When at “heel” (as defined by the American Kennel Club) of a competent person;
(3) When within a vehicle being driven, parked or stopped, and the dog must be restrained so the animal cannot reach out past the boundaries of the vehicle; - (4) When under supervised competition, exhibition, or training for hunting, herding, or dog show trials.
- (b) This section shall not be a defense for a person with an animal that might interfere with public safety.
Section 10-76 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Garden City is herby amended and shall read as follows:
Section 10-76. Number of dogs and cats allowed.
a. It shall be unlawful within the city for any person to posses, keep, or harbor, or allow to be possessed, kept, or harbored, in or at a single family residence or individual unit in a multi-family residence, or any other structure or residence, regardless of ownership of the animals, more than two dogs or three cats with the exception that a litter or pups or a litter of kittens or a portion of a litter may be kept for a period of time not exceeding five months from birth. A person may keep a combination of not more than two dogs and no more than three cats or any combination thereof prior to November 28, 1994, may retain their animals; provided, however, that if for any reason an animal is lost, sold, given away, or dies, and there still remains more than two dogs or three cats or any combination thereof, there can be no replacement for the lost, sold, given, or deceased animal. This section shall not apply to premises which have been licensed as a commercial cattery or commercial kennel as provided in this chapter.
b. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues. Each dog or cat kept in excess of the limits set forth in this section shall be deemed to be a separate offense. In addition to any fine which might be imposed, the court may also order the immediate impoundment and destruction of each and every dog or cat being kept in excess of the limit established in this section. Upon order of the court, the police department may seize and impound all dogs and cats kept in excess of this section and thereafter, proceed to destroy each animal kept in violation of this section.
c. The procedures and requirements set forth in division 3 of this article shall not apply to animals ordered to be impounded and destroyed under this section.
SECTION 2.
Section 10-186 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Garden City is herby amended and shall read as follows:
Section 10-186. Definitions.
The following words, terms, and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Owner means any person keeping, possessing, harboring, or having the care or custody of a dog.
Vicious dog means any dog:
1. With known propensity, tendency, or disposition to attack without provocation, to cause injury or to otherwise threaten the safety of a human being or domestic animals;
2. Which, without provocation, has attacked or bitten a human being or domestic animal;
3. Owned or harbored primarily or in part for the purpose of dogfighting, or any dog trained for dogfighting;
4. Which, without provocation, chases or approaches a person upon the streets, sidewalks, or any public or private property in a menacing fashion or apparent attitude of attack, or;
5. Known as a pit bull dog which shall be defined as any American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier or American Staffordshire Terrier breed of dog or any mixed breed of dog which has the appearance of being predominately of the breeds of dog known as American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, or American Staffordshire Terrier or any other breed of dog commonly known as pit bull, pit bull dog, or pit bull terrier or a combination of these breeds.
SECTION 3.
Section 10-189 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Garden City is hereby amended and shall be read as follows:
Section 10-189. Declaration of unlawful act.
It shall be unlawful for the owner of a vicious dog to keep or maintain a vicious dog in the city, unless the owner is in compliance with the requirements of section 10-189. If a dog commits one of the defined acts is subsections (2) or (4) of the definition of a vicious dog in section 10-189, such shall be considered noncompliance with the requirements of section 10-190, and the owner shall be declared to be unlawfully keeping or maintaining a vicious dog, in violation of this section.
SECTION 4.
Section 10-190 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Garden is hereby amended and shall read as follows:
Section 10-190. Requirements for keeping
The owner of a vicious dog shall be subject to the following requirements:
1. Confinement
All vicious dogs shall be securely confined indoors or in an enclosed and locked pen or structure upon the premises of the owner. The pen or structure must have minimum dimensions of five feet by ten feet and must have secure sides and a secure top attached to the sides. If no bottom is secured to the sides, the sides must be embedded into the ground no less than two feet. All pens or structures must be adequately lighted and kept clean and sanitary. The enclosure must also protect the dog from the elements.
2. Leash and muzzle
The owner of a vicious dog shall not allow the dog to go outside its kennel, pen, or structure unless the dog is muzzled, restrained by chain or leash not more than four feet in length, and under the physical control of a person. The muzzle must not cause injury to the dog or interfere with its vision or respiration but must prevent the dog from biting any human or animal.
3. Signs
The owner of a vicious dog shall display in a prominent place on the owner’s premises a clearly visible warning sign indicating that there is a vicious dog on the premises. The sign must be readable form the public highway, street, or thoroughfare. The owner shall also display a sign with a symbol warning children of the presence of a vicious dog. Similar signs shall be posted on the dog’s kennel, pen or enclosed structure.
SECTION 5.
Section 10-191 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Garden City is hereby amended and shall read as follows:
Section 10-191. Impoundment and destruction
a. The police department may seize and impound a dog when:
1. The dog had attacked, bitten, or injured a human being or domestic animal;
2. The dog had previously been determined by the judge or the municipal court to be a vicious dog, and the owner has failed to comply with the requirements and condition for keeping a vicious dog;
3. The dog is a pit bull dog as defined by Section 10-186(5), and the owner has failed to comply with the requirements and condition for keeping a vicious dog; or
4. The dog poses a threat of serious harm to public health or safety.
b. The police department shall have the authority to immediately destroy a vicious dog which poses a threat of serious harm to public health or safety.
c. Any vicious dog seized by the police department pursuant to sub section (a)(2) or (3) of this section, shall be impounded for 72 hours, and thereafter destroyed. Prior to destruction, a licensed veterinarian shall identify as a pit bull dog, any animal seized pursuant to subsection (a)(3) or this section.
d. The procedures and requirements set forth in article III, division 3 of this chapter concerning impoundment, shall not apply to vicious dogs.
SECTION 6.
Sections 10-76, 10-186, 10-190, and 10-191 of the Code of Ordinances of the City or Garden City, shall be and the same hereby are repealed, to be replaced as set forth herein.
SECTION 7.
This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its publication in the Garden City Telegram, the official city newspaper.
APPROVED AND PASSED by the Governing Body of the City of Garden City, Kansas, the 24th day of September, 2002.
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Finney County Regulations
Resolution 24-89
A resolution relating to the keeping of animals in Finney County, Kansas; preventing said owner(s) from allowing said animals to run at large within the confines of Finney County, Kansas providing for the licensing of certain animals; providing for the disposition of animals; providing for fines for violations.
SECTION 1.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or the keeper or persons in charge of any horse, mule, jack, hogs, sheep, goat, or any other animal belonging to the class called "Neat," or any domestic animal, the same to include dogs, willfully to allow or permit the same to be or to run at large within the confines of Finney County, Kansas, or to be herded upon the roads or highways of Finney County, or to graze thereon, unless picketed in such a manner as to restrict any such animals from being upon any road or highway of Finney County or premises of another; provided however, that nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the driving of any of the above Class of animals through or into Finney County, Kansas when closely herded or driven by drovers over such roads or highways as shall be designated and permitted by the Sheriff of Finney County, Kansas.
Any person violating any provision of this Section shall upon conviction thereof, be fined in an amount not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
SECTION 2.
There is hereby imposed upon an owner, keeper or harborer of all dogs over the age of four (4) months, an annual tax of Two Dollars ($2.00) for each spayed female or neutered male, and Five Dollars ($5.00) for each unspayed female or unneutered male over the age of four (4) months; provided, that any person paying the tax for a spayed female or neutered male shall present to the County Clerk a certificate from an accredited veterinarian to the effect that said animal has been spayed and /or neutered.
SECTION 3.
At the time of registration and payment of the tax provided for in Section 2, there shall be presented to the County Clerk a certificate from an accredited veterinarian to the effect that any dog so registered has been inoculated for rabies within ninety (90) days prior to applying for registration; provided that any dog which has been inoculated for rabies with the chick embryo attenuated vaccine need be inoculated only every third year; provided further, that all cats shall be vaccinated yearly.
SECTION 4.
(a) The tax year shall run from January 1 to December 31, and all dog taxes shall be due and payable at the Office of the County Clerk from and after January 1 of each year; provided, that if the taxes required to be paid for any such animal as described herein shall not be paid prior to May 1 within a year, when such animal shall be owned or harbored in the County, the owner or harborer shall pay, as a penalty, an additional One dollar ($1.00) per month, for each month delay in the payment of the tax required.
(b) The owner or harborer of any such animal that becomes four (4) months of age, or any such animal four (4) months of age or more which is brought into the County on and after the first day of May each year, shall at such time be liable for the penalty as above provided.
SECTION 5.
It shall be the duty of the person or persons with police authority of the County, and any person appointed by the Board of County Commissioners as animal warden, to take into custody and impound all animals found in the County not provided with or wearing the animal tag for the current year as provided for in this article. All such animals shall be placed in an animal shelter operated by the County or its licensee, and after seventy two (72) hours from the time of such taking up, if no person has appeared to claim such animal and paid the costs as hereafter provided in connection with the taking up and impounding of such animal, the County or licensee may destroy such animal, or the County or its licensee shall deal with the animal as it would any other abandoned animal.
SECTION 6.
It shall be the duty of such officers of the County, or any person appointed by the Board of County Commissioners as animal warden, to capture or take into custody and impound animals running at large within the County. All animals captured or taken into custody while running at large within the County shall be impounded and disposed of as provided by Sections 5 and 7.
SECTION 7.
As soon after the impounding of any animal as may be reasonably possible, the animal warden shall maintain and also furnish to the Sheriff, a complete description and tattoo number of each animal held in custody at the animal shelter, together with information concerning the time and place of capture or impoundment, and the time limit within which such animal may be redeemed by the owner. This required information shall be maintained within the Sheriff’s department in such a manner as to be available in response to personal or telephonic requests. If any animal which has been impounded shall have been registered as required, and is wearing a tag for the current registration year, the owner of any such animal or the keeper or harborer thereof, as shown by the records in the office of the County Clerk, shall be notified of the impounding of such animal; furthermore, the owner, keeper or harborer of such animal shall be notified by the person charged with the duty of destroying such animal, of the intent to destroy such animal or the intent to place such animal in a new home, at least twenty-four (24) hours before such animal is destroyed or placed in a new home, which notice may be given personally, by telephone, or by registered mail with return receipt, and for such purposes, the depositing of a letter containing such notice in the post office at Garden City, Kansas, seventy two (72) hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, prior to the disposition of said animal, addressed to the owner, keeper, or harborer, thereof, postage pre-paid, at his last address as shown by the animal registration records in the office of the County Clerk, shall be deemed sufficient notice; provided that mad animals or animals which any officer of the County, including the duly appointed animal warden may have reasonable grounds for believing to be mad, or any animals which are in such physical condition because of injuries, wounds, or sickness would result in imminent death, may be humanely disposed of without the necessity of giving notice provided herein prior to disposition; however, if such destroyed animals wear current registration tags issued by the County, the Sheriff, upon receiving notice of the disposition of any such animal, shall advise or attempt to advise the registered owner as reflected by animal registration records in the office of the County Clerk.
SECTION 8.
(a) Any person who desires to redeem an animal which has been impounded shall pay to the County Clerk or designee the amount of the unpaid animal tax, if the same is owing and unpaid, or produce a receipt from the County Clerk showing that the tax on such animal has been paid for the current year. In addition to the payment of said tax, such person shall pay to the County or its licensee a reasonable fee for the care and maintenance of any animal that has been impounded, such fee based upon the amount of time said animal has been impounded plus any veterinarian care. All such impoundment fees shall be calculated on each twenty four (24) hour period of impoundment or fraction thereof; provided, each unneutered animal to be released to a new home or new owner at the expiration of the prescribed impoundment period shall be neutered at the expense of the new owner prior to release. A fee of not more than the average boarding fee charged by the local kennels will be charged as an impoundment fee for each twenty four (24) hour period of impoundment or fraction thereof.
(b) If an animal has not been claimed within seventy-two (72) hours after impoundment, it shall be deemed to be an abandoned animal. An abandoned animal may be adopted provided the person wishing to adopt the animal fulfills the following requirements:
- Pay all impoundment fees;
- Present a receipt showing that a rabies vaccination has been paid for the animal from a local, State licensed veterinarian;
- Pay for a County license;
- Present a receipt of payment to the animal warden showing that a spay or neuter operation for the animal has been arranged with a State licensed veterinarian;
- Agree, in writing, that the animal will be duly vaccinated and presented to the veterinarian for the neutering as soon as it is recommended by the veterinarian.
(c) Any portions of subsections (b)(2), (3), (4), or (5) above may be waived, provided adequate proof is presented to the animal warden that the animal to be adopted has a current rabies vaccination, is registered with the County, or is already spayed or neutered.
SECTION 9.
All fees and fines collected pursuant to this Resolution shall be deposited in the County General Fund.
SECTION 10.
This Resolution shall be effective on January 1, 1990. Passed October 9, 1989.
Approved by Martin Huschka, Chairman
Attest: Carol Brown, County Clerk
