City council amends ordinance concerning dangerous dogs

The City of Dallas council members amended a city ordinance Wednesday to more effectively control and regulate animals, including dangerous dogs within the city limits.

The state code defines a dangerous dog as a dog that makes an unprovoked attack on a person that causes bodily injury in a place other than an enclosure in which the dog was being kept.

The City of Dallas Code defines an aggressive dog as a dog that on at least one occasion, while not legally restrained, killed or injured a legally restrained domestic animal or livestock.

After a dog is determined to be dangerous or aggressive, the owner of the dog has 15 days to comply with the following:

– Have an unsterilized dangerous/aggressive dog spayed or neutered;
– Register the aggressive dog with the director and pay to the director a dangerous/aggressive dog registration fee of $50;
– Restrain the dangerous/aggressive dog at all times on a leash in the immediate control of a person or in a secure enclosure;
– When taken outside the enclosure, must be securely muzzled;
– Obtain liability insurance coverage or show financial responsibility in an amount of at least $100,000;
– Place and maintain on the dangerous/aggressive dog collar or harness with a current dangerous/aggressive dog registration tag securely attached to it;
– Have the dangerous/aggressive dog injected with a microchip implant and registered with a national registry for dogs;
– Post a legible sign at each entrance to the enclosure in which the dangerous/aggressive dog is confined stating “BEWARE DANGEROUS/AGGRESSIVE DOG.” The aforementioned sign must be purchased from Dallas Animal Services.

Animals may be exempt from vaccinations or the embedding of a microchip if the owner can provide a letter from a licensed veterinarian on office stationary dated prior to impoundment stating that the animal was not vaccinated or should not be injected with a microchip due to health reasons.

There are no longer boarding and impoundment fees for animals redeemed before the end of their first full day at shelter. Furthermore, hold times for animals with identification has been reduced from ten days to five days.

Dallas Animal Service officers are now authorized to seize and impound any animal in the city that is loose, posing a threat to public health or safety, and displaying signs and symptoms of extreme health concerns.

Any person violating a provision of this ordinance, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine up to $500.