All animals must be provided with proper food, water, and appropriate shelter. That means that they must be fed enough to stay in good physical condition, have clean water available AT ALL TIMES, and their shelter must protect them from the current climate. The must have constant shade, NOT JUST A DOG HOUSE in the hot summer months and must be provided with a dog house that sufficiently protects them from the cold in the winter months. Examples of proper and improper shelter are posted below. Please take this seriously because our Officers get tired of seeing dogs frozen to death or dead of heat stroke and you WILL be prosecuted if you're caught failing your animal in this way. If you need housing advice or assistance, please feel free to reach out to us. We will be happy to help without judgement. We're big fans of preventing problems before they start.
Improper Shelter
A shelter similar to these is inappropriate because it does not block the wind or protect the animal from the muddy ground or rain. This isn't acceptable, no matter the season. If you have questions about suitability or need assistance with pet housing, please reach out to us at the Animal Care Center.
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Proper Shelter
Dog houses similar to these are acceptable because they keep the dog up off the ground, out of the mud, block the wind on all sides and have a solid roof. It needs to have shade close by in the summer and bedding (such as straw or wood shavings) in the winter for added warmth. Winter bedding is available to low income pet owners at the Animal Care Center in the winter.
By law you have to have your dog or cat vaccinated for rabies annually, but we also strongly suggest that you vaccinate against prevalent contagious diseases such as parvovirus, distemper, leptospirosis, FIV, FeLV, etc so that your pet lives a long, healthy life and doesn't contribute to the spread of potentially fatal disease in the community.
Your dog must be confined to your property by whatever effective means you choose. Material fence, underground fence, tie out cable, etc are all an acceptable option. If tied up/ chained then your dog must have adequate room to move around, the environment must be kept clean and free of waste and debris, and the chain cannot be excessively heavy or cause the dog pain. Your dog is NOT allowed to be off your property without a leash and is subject to impoundment by our Officers if it is found running at large.
We can and do provide traps and will set them to remove cats if that is the best option available. However, this is ruled as a low priority call and will not be put ahead of calls for service regarding large dogs running loose or potentially aggressive animals. There is often a waiting list for city owned traps since we have many more complaints than we have traps available. If a property owner provides their own trap and notifies us that they have caught a cat, then our Officers will pick up the trap that day and return it within 24 hours.
You will need to contact a pest control company and handle your issue within the private sector. We are not licensed or insured to handle wildlife and will not trap, remove, or relocate wild animals.