§ 6-8. Keeping animals other than domesticated pets.

(a)

Except as otherwise expressly provided for in this chapter, no person shall keep, harbor or allow to be kept within the city limits any live chicken, turkey, goose, duck or any other poultry or byproduct bird, goat, sheep, swine, cattle, horse, or any type of hoof stock, any type of farm animal including any pygmy or miniature variety thereof; any lion, tiger, leopard, ocelot, jaguar, cheetah, margay, mountain lion, lynx, bobcat, jaguarundi, bear, hyena, wolf, wolf-hybrid, poisonous reptile, or nondomesticated animal found in its natural state to be wild and potentially dangerous to human life. It is no defense to a violation of this section that the owner or keeper of the animal has attempted to domesticate the animal.

(b)

Animals maintained by a humane society, veterinary hospital, or educational institutions shall not be regulated by the provisions of this section. Furthermore, this section shall not prohibit legitimate retail establishments sale of livestock and poultry for traditional agricultural purposes.

(c)

Exhibitions or parades of animals which are ferae naturae in the eyes of the law may be conducted only upon obtaining a permit from the administrator.

(d)

Pre-existing nonconforming use:

(1)

A person keeping, harboring, or possessing any donkey(s), horse(s), mule(s), llama(s), swine, or cattle lawfully existing on real estate within the corporate boundaries of the city on the effective date of this chapter, or when the real property is annexed into the corporate boundaries of the city, shall be entitled to an exemption from the provisions of subsection (a) of this section of this chapter as provided for herein. Any person claiming an exemption under this paragraph shall obtain a certificate of nonconforming use from the city building official or his designee. Said exemption shall be deemed a covenant running with the land and shall inure to the benefit of the real estate described in the certificate of nonconforming use.

(2)

When any person no longer keeps, harbors, or possesses any donkey, horse, mule, llama, swine, and/or cattle exempted from the regulations of this section under subsection (d)(1) of this section, for a period of twelve (12) consecutive months, they shall not thereafter resume to keep, harbor, or possess any animal prohibited under the provisions of subsection (a) and shall comply with the regulations of subsection (a) of this section.

(e)

Any person violating any provision of this section shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense, and a separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which the violation occurs or continues. In addition to any fine, the city may seek injunctive and declaratory relief directing the violator(s) to cure or abate the violation.

(Ord. No. 35-2007, § IX, 11-6-2007; Ord. No. 40-2009, § II, 9-15-2009)