ORDINANCE NO. 1029

 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SEC. 5-30,

CATS, RUNNING AT LARGE, FORT MORGAN MUNICIPAL CODE (1994)

      BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT MORGAN, COLORADO:

      SEC. 5-30, RUNNING AT LARGE, Fort Morgan Municipal Code (1994), IS HEREBY AMENDED TO READ IN ITS ENTIRETY AS FOLLOWS:

Sec. 5-30.      Running at large.

(a)    It shall be unlawful for any owner, possessor or person who keeps any cat to permit the same to run at large.  A cat shall be deemed to be running at large when:  (1) it is off or away from the premises of the owner, possessor or keeper thereof and not under the control of such owner, possessor, keeper or his or her agent or servant, and (2) a complaint is made to the police authorities or to the Animal Control Officer complaining that said cat is running at large.

(b)    Any cat in violation of the provisions of this Article may be trapped or captured by the Animal Control officer and impounded at the Fort Morgan Animal Shelter.  The Animal Control Officer shall not be required to notify anyone, either before or after the fact, that any cat has been or may be trapped or impounded.  It shall, at all times and in all events, therefore, be and remain the responsibility of the owner of the cat to contact the Animal Control officer or the police authorities should the owner's cat be missing because it has been impounded by the City.

(c)    Any cat that has been impounded under the provisions of this Article at the Animal Shelter may be redeemed by its owner or an authorized representative of the owner within five (5) days of its impoundment by paying a redemption fee established, from time to time, by resolution of the City Council.  In the event that any impounded cat is not so redeemed within such five (5) day period, such impounded cat may be made available for adoption or otherwise disposed of at the discretion of the employees of the Animal Shelter acting under the direction of the Chief of Police; except that the Shelter Supervisor may determine that a cat without identification, including but not limited to a microchip, identification tag or rabies tag, may be disposes of in three (3) days if such Shelter Supervisor determines the Shelter has no additional resources for such animal or that such animal is dangerous.

If the Animal Shelter acquires the cat from the owner or an authorized representative of the owner, the cat shall become the property of the Shelter at the time of transfer of the animal, and the cat may be disposed of by and at the discretion of the Shelter Supervisor.  If the cat is determined to be abandoned, as defined under C.R.S. §18-9-201(1), the cat becomes the property of the Shelter and may be disposed of by and at the discretion of the Shelter Supervisor.

The Fort Morgan Animal Shelter shall be a steward of stray cats for the purposes of providing prophylactic veterinary care under the written protocol and direction of the Shelter Veterinarian.  Cats, which in the opinion of the Shelter Veterinarian or the Shelter Supervisor, are experiencing extreme pain or suffering, may be disposed of immediately by the Shelter through euthanasia after the Animal Shelter has exhausted reasonable efforts to contact the owner; however, for cats without identification, the Shelter shall exhaust reasonable efforts to contact the owner for up to twenty-four (24) hours from the time of acquisition.

The City of Fort Morgan and any employee of the City or any volunteer at the Animal Shelter that complies with the minimum holding period as set forth in this subsection (c) or that disposes of a pet animal in accordance with the provisions as set forth in this subsection (c) hereof for owner-surrendered or abandoned cats, or suffering animals, shall be immune from liability in any civil action brought by the owner of an animal concerning the Shelter's disposition of the animal, as provided in C.R.S. §35-80-106.3(2),

For purposes of this Sec. 5-30, "days" shall mean days during which the Fort Morgan Animal Shelter is open to the public.

(d)    Any cat six (6) months of age or older, not proved by its owner to be kept for breeding purposes, shall be spayed or neutered.  If requested to do so, the owner of a cat that is kept for breeding purposes shall provide proof of that fact by presenting his or her sworn statement reciting that the cat is so kept and further reciting that the statement is made upon penalty of perjury.

(e)    In the event that an impounded cat that is required to be spayed or neutered is not so spayed or neutered, then as a condition of release or adoption, the owner or possessor must agree to have the cat spayed or neutered within fourteen (14) days after release or redemption.  Evidence of compliance in the form of a written statement from a licenses veterinarian shall be submitted to the Animal Control Officer within twenty-one (21) days after redemption or adoption.  Failure to present such evidence of compliance shall constitute an offense and shall be punishable as a municipal misdemeanor.

(f)    Reference in this Article to Animal Control Officer shall include any and all police personnel of the City.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY

                                                                                   OF FORT MORGAN, COLORADO

[ SEAL ]

                                                                                   BY: /s/ Jack L. Darnell

                                                                                                             Mayor

ATTEST:

/s/ Nancy J. Lockwood

        City Clerk

      PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED ON FINAL READING AND ORDERED PUBLISHED by title only the 18th day of April, 2006.

THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY

OF FORT MORGAN, COLORADO

[ SEAL ]

                                                                                    BY: /s/ Jack L. Darnell

                                      Mayor

ATTEST:

 /s/ Nancy J. Lockwood

        City Clerk

STATE OF COLORADO            )

COUNTY OF MORGAN             ) ss.                                     CERTIFICATE

CITY OF FORT MORGAN         )

       I, Nancy J. Lockwood, the duly appointed, qualified and acting Clerk of the City of Fort Morgan, Colorado, do hereby certify and attest that the foregoing Ordinance No. 1029 was, as a proposed Ordinance duly and legally presented to the City Council of the City of Fort Morgan, Colorado, at a regular meeting on the 4^th day of April, 2006.  Said Ordinance, as proposed, was duly read at length at said regular meeting, and thereafter the same was, on the 7^th day of April, 2006 published in The Fort Morgan Times, a daily newspaper of general circulation published and printed in the City of Fort Morgan, Morgan County, Colorado.  Said proposed Ordinance was again taken up and read a second time, duly and legally passed, approved and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the 18th day of April, 2006.  Within five (5) days after its final passage, said Ordinance was published by title only in The Fort Morgan Times, a daily newspaper of general circulation published and printed in the City of Fort Morgan, Morgan County, Colorado.

                                                                /s/ Nancy J. Lockwood

               City Clerk