§ 5-1. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the respective meanings ascribed to them:

Abandon means leaving in an enclosure or at large without providing food and water, or shelter from sun or inclement weather.

Animal means any member of the kingdom Animalia, other than Homo Sapiens.

Animal services manager means the supervisor of the animal services division or his/her designee.

At large means:

(1)

On premises of owner, any animal not confined to the premises of the owner by some physical means of sufficient height, strength, length, and/or manner of construction to preclude the animal from leaving the premises of the owner;

(2)

Off premises of owner, any animal which is not physically and continually restrained by some person by means of a leash or chain of proper strength and length that precludes the animal from making an unsolicited contact with any person, his/her clothing, his/her property, and/or his/her premises; provided, however, that any animal confined within an automobile or other vehicle of its owner shall not be deemed at large;

(3)

Any dog which is off leash in a canine off-leash recreation area owned or operated by the City of Grand Prairie and which is not under the physical or voice control of its caretaker and which is capable of causing injury to a person or another animal.

Cat means any live or dead cat (Felis catus).

Collar means any collar constructed of nylon, leather, or similar material, specifically designed to be used on the species of animal on which it is placed.

Currently vaccinated means vaccinated in compliance with the rabies vaccination protocol/regulations established by the Texas Department of Health.

Dangerous animal means:

(1)

An animal that makes an unprovoked attack on a human, that causes bodily injury and occurs in a place other than an enclosure in which the animal was being kept and that was reasonably certain to prevent the animal from leaving the enclosure on its own; or

(2)

An animal that commits unprovoked acts in a place other than an enclosure in which the animal was being kept and that was reasonably certain to prevent the animal from leaving the enclosure on its own, and those acts cause a person reasonably to believe that the animal will attack and cause bodily injury to that person which could include a situation where the animal attacks another animal in the vicinity of humans, and in which the humans cannot prevent such attack without fear of being injured themselves; or

(3)

An animal that makes an unprovoked attack on a domestic animal or domestic fowl that causes serious bodily injury or death to the domestic animal or fowl, and which occurs when such attacking animal is at large and when humans are in the vicinity but are unable to prevent the attack, or when the victim animal is not presenting a danger to the attacking animal or physically inside the enclosure of the dangerous animal; or

(4)

An animal that makes an unprovoked attack on a human eight (8) years of age or younger within its enclosure and such enclosure was not reasonably certain to keep a person that age from entering.

Dog means any live or dead dog (Canis familiaris).

Exotic fowl means any avian species not indigenous to the State of Texas.

Fowl means the Order Anseriformes (such as ducks, geese and swans); Order Galliformes (such as chickens, pea-fowl, turkey, and guinea fowl) and other wild or domesticated Gallinacceous birds.

Goat means any domesticated caprine animal.

Harboring means the act of keeping and caring for an animal or providing a premises to which the animal returns for food, shelter, or care for a period of two (2) days or longer.

Horse means any domesticated equine animal.

Housing facility means any room, building, or area used to contain a primary enclosure or enclosures.

Humanely destroy means to cause the death of an animal by a method which:

(1)

Rapidly produces unconsciousness and death without visible evidence of pain or distress; or

(2)

Utilizes anesthesia produced by an agent, which causes painless loss of consciousness and death following such loss of consciousness.

Hybrid means any animal formed of the union of different species.

Impound means to take into custody or to place in the animal shelter of the city or other authorized confinement area.

Livestock means all horses (equine animals), cows (bovine animals), sheep (ovine animals), goats (caprine animals), pigs (swine animals), or any other animal defined as livestock by the State of Texas Agricultural Code, whether commonly domesticated or not.

Microchip database means a twenty-four-hour, seven-days-a-week computerized system that contains all of the prescribed information of microchipped implanted animals. The database shall have a national backup system delivered by a recognized agency as a means of security to ensure that the information concerning an animal's name, owner's name, address, telephone number, and alternate contact(s) shall be available for at least twenty (20) years. The database shall have the capacity to store and retrieve other types of information, such as the sterility status, bite information, and medical condition(s) of the animal implanted and registered.

Microchip implant means a passive electronic device that is injected into an animal, subcutaneously, by means of a hypodermic-type syringe device. Each microchip shall contain a unique and original number that is read by an electronic scanning device for purposes of animal identification and recovery by the animal's owners. The microchip implant shall be supplied with an exterior collar-type tag for purposes of an external means of notifying others that the animal has been implanted with a microchip.

Microchip reader means an electronic device that detects an implanted microchip and that displays the unique number of the microchip implanted in an animal.

Observation period means the ten (10) or more days following a bite or scratch of a human by an animal, during which the animal's health status must be monitored.

Owner means any person or persons, firm, association, partnership, or corporation, owning, keeping or harboring any animal or animals.

Person means an individual, corporation, firm, partnership, association, business trust, estate, or trust.

Primary enclosure means any structure used to immediately restrict an animal or animals to a limited amount of space, such as a room, pen, run, cage, compartment, or hutch.

Quarantine means strict confinement under restraint by closed cage or paddock or in any other manner approved in this chapter on the private premises of the owner or at a facility approved by the state board of health or its designee or the city animal shelter.

Quarantine period means that portion of the observation period during which a biting or scratching animal is physically confined for observation.

Rabies means an acute viral disease of man and animal affecting the central nervous system and usually transmitted by an animal bite.

Ratite means a family of birds which have no keel and cannot fly. Ostriches, emus, rheas, kiwis, and cassowaries are members.

Sanitize means to make physically clean and to destroy disease-producing agents.

Serious bodily injury means an injury characterized by severe bite wounds or severe ripping or tearing of flesh that would cause a reasonably prudent person to seek treatment from a medical professional and would require hospitalization without regard to whether the person actually sought medical treatment.

Sheep means any domesticated ovine animal.

Shelter means a structure adequate in size to accommodate the animal's body weight and that is fully enclosed on three (3) sides, roofed, and has a dry solid floor. The interior must remain dry and be protected from the elements at all times and which shall provide either natural or artificial shade for the animal to avoid the direct sunlight.

Tether means a chain, rope, tether, leash, cable, or other device that attaches an animal to a stationary object or trolley system.

Unowned animal means any animal for which an owner has not been identified.

Vaccination means an injection of a vaccine for rabies, approved by the state veterinarian, and administered by a veterinarian licensed by the state board of veterinary examiners.

Wild animal means any mammal, save and except the common domestic species (dogs, cats, ferrets, horses, cattle, swine, sheep, and goats), and any amphibian, reptile or fowl which is not naturally tame or gentle, but is of a wild nature or disposition and which, because of its size, vicious nature, or other characteristics, would constitute a danger to human life or property if it is not kept or maintained in a safe manner or in secure quarters, including, but not limited to, lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, bears, wolves, alligators, crocodiles, foxes, raccoons, skunks, ringtails, bobcats, coyotes, martens, elephants, rhinoceroses, or any hybrids of the aforementioned animals, nonhuman primates and all forms of poisonous reptiles and other like animals.

Wild state means living in its original natural condition, not domesticated.

Wildlife means animals living in such conditions of the "wild state."

(Ord. No. 9729-2014, § 1, 6-17-14)