As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meaning:

A."Advisory and Hearing Committee" means a committee to be known as the animal advisory and hearing committee. The advisory and hearing committee shall be composed of five (5) members; the city clerk or designee; the chief of police or designee; the president of the city council or designee; the president of the Springfield Kennel Club or designee, and a resident of the city as appointed by the mayor or designee. All members shall be a resident of the city. Committee members will elect a chairperson and such other officers as they may deem necessary and shall meet at least monthly or as needed. Duties of the committee shall be to:

1.Study, review and issue written reports on issues dealing with dogs or other animals in the city;

2.Make recommendations to the mayor and the city council for the improvement of ordinances of the city as they relate to dogs and other animals in the city; and

3.Hold hearings to determine whether a dog or other animal is vicious or potentially vicious in the city, and to review orders to destroy.

B."Animal" means any live, vertebrate creature, domestic or wild, excluding humans.

C."Animal-domestic" means any dog, cat, horse, cow, sheep, goat, pig or domestic fowl, or any other similar animal commonly harbored in a home or at a residence, not limited to, but including rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, hamsters, reptiles.

D."Animal-wild" means any raccoon, skunk, fox, leopard, panther, tiger, lion, lynx or other similar warm-blooded animal wild by nature, or poisonous reptiles, normally found in the wild.

E."Animal Control Center" means any facility or shelter operated by or for the city, including the Thomas J. O%u2019Connor Animal Control Center or its successor, or operated by a humane society, for the purpose of impounding or caring for animals held under the authority of this chapter or laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

F."Animal Control Officer" means any person designated by the city to enforce this chapter including but not limited to police officers, special police officers, chief animal control officer, domestic or wildlife animal control officers, health and human services department officers, animal inspector, and agents of the Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control Center or its successor.

G."Animal exhibition" means any display, other than circuses, containing one or more animals which are exposed to public view for entertainment, instruction or advertisement, excluding state and county fairs, livestock shows, rodeos, purebred dog and pedigreed cat shows, obedience trials and competitions, field trials, and any other fairs and exhibitions intended to advance agricultural arts and sciences.

H."Auction" means any place or facility where animals are regularly bought, sold or traded, except for those facilities otherwise defined in this chapter. The term does not apply to isolated sales of individual animals by owners.

I. "Chief Animal Control Officer" means the city, through the mayor or his/her designee shall appoint a chief animal control officer and/or shall delegate such responsibility and authority of the chief animal control officer to the animal control center, or like facility, whose primary responsibilities shall include the enforcement and implementation of this ordinance or any rules and regulations promulgated there under. The chief animal control officer shall coordinate and administer the activities involving the animal control program in accordance with any goals, policies, and procedures established by the Springfield City Council or Department of Health and Human Services as the circumstances dictate, and shall be under the direction and supervision of the city clerk or the mayor.

J."Circus" means a commercial variety show featuring animal acts for public entertainment.

K."Commercial animal establishment" means any pet shop, auction, riding school or stable, zoological park, circus, performing animal exhibition or kennel.

L."Dealer" means any person who, for compensation or profit, buys for resale any animals, whether alive or dead, for research, experimentation, testing, or exhibition (except as an exhibitor as herein defined) or for use as pets.

M. "Feral" means an animal that exists in an untamed state or that has returned to an untamed state and is no longer considered domesticated.

N."Grooming shop" means a commercial establishment where animals are bathed, clipped, plucked, or otherwise groomed.

O."Guard dogs" means dogs which meet the provisions of Chapter 129, Section 39B of the General Laws.

P."Kennel" means any premises wherein any person, partnership or corporation engages in the business of boarding; breeding; buying; letting for hire; training for a fee; selling dogs or cats; engages in training dogs for guard or sentry purposes; or a place where four (4) or more cats or dogs or other combination of four (4) such animals are kept, whether by owners of the animals or by other persons, with or without compensation.

Q."Licensing authority" means the city clerk or his/her designee as provided by the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

R."Owner" means any person, firm, corporation, organization, or department owning, keeping, having an interest in, or having care, custody, or control of or harboring one (1) or more animals. An animal shall be deemed to be harbored if it is fed or sheltered for ten (10) consecutive days or more. If the owner of an animal is a minor, the parent or guardian of said minor shall be considered the owner.

S."Performing animal exhibition" means any spectacle, display, act, exhibit, or event other than circuses, in which performing animals are used.

T."Pet shop" means any person, partnership or corporation, whether operated separately or in connection with any other business enterprise except for a licensed kennel, that buys, sells, or boards any species of animals.

U."Physical restraint" means muzzled and on a leash not to exceed six (6) feet and controlled by a person over the age 18 physically capable of controlling such dog. The muzzle must not cause injury to the dog but must prevent it from biting any person or animal.

V."Potentially vicious animal" means any dog or other animal that displays the following propensity, tendency, or disposition:

1. When unprovoked, inflicts bite(s) on human or domestic animals on public or private property;

2. When unprovoked, chases or approaches a person upon the streets, sidewalks, or any public property in an apparent attitude of attack; or

3. To attack unprovoked, causing injury or otherwise threatening the safety of humans or domestic animals.

W."Public nuisance" means any animal which:

1. Molests or threatens passersby or passing vehicles;

2. Threatens or attacks other animals;

3. Trespasses on school grounds or private property;

4. Is repeatedly at large three or more times, as documented by the Animal Control Officer, within a consecutive twelve month period;

5. Damages private or public property;

6. Barks, whines, howls, or makes any noise natural to its species in an excessive, continuous, or untimely fashion so as to disturb the peace;

7. Creates excessive offensive odor.

X."Restraint" means any leash, lead, or other physical restraint. Dogs must be on a leash not more than six (6) feet long, except in cases where the dog is under voice control of a person and that person has a leash in his possession and except when the dog is confined in a fenced in area or pen.

Y."Secure enclosure" means a secure enclosure shall be a minimum of five (5) feet wide, ten (10) feet long, and a minimum of six (6) feet in height above the grade, and with a horizontal top covering said area, all to be at least nine (9) gauge chain link fencing with necessary steel supporting posts. To prevent escape of the animal, the floor shall be at least three (3) inches of poured concrete with the bottom edge of said fencing embedded in the concrete or extending at least one (1) foot below grade. The gate must be of the same material as the fencing, fit closely and be securely locked or otherwise deemed secured by the animal control center. The owner shall post the secure enclosure with a clearly visible warning sign, including a warning symbol to inform children, that there is a dangerous dog on the property. The primary enclosure must be locked at all times when the dog is unattended by either the owner or a competent custodian eighteen (18) years of age or older. The enclosure must contain and provide protection from the elements for the dog or other animals mentioned before and shall comply with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 272, section 77 (Cruelty to Animals).

Z."Serious bodily injury" means bodily injury which involves substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ.

AA. "Stray" means any animal that is found to be at-large, whether lost by its owner or otherwise, or that is on the common areas of apartments, condominiums, trailer parks, or other multi-residential properties, streets, alleys, thoroughfares or roadways, and that does not have an identification tag and for which there is no identifiable owner. However, if the City establishes a program for the maintenance of feral cats, feral cats may be treated as 'other than stray'.

BB."Veterinary hospital or clinic" means any establishment maintained and operated by a licensed veterinarian for surgery, diagnosis and treatment of diseases or injuries of animals.

CC."Vicious animal" means any animal that has:

1. When unprovoked, inflicts substantial bodily harm on a human being on public or private property;

2. When unprovoked, kills a domestic animal while off the owner's property; or

3. Been found to be potentially vicious, and after the owner has notice that the animal is potentially vicious, the animal aggressively bites, attacks, or endangers the safety of humans or domestic animals.

4. Any animal owned or harbored primarily or in part for the purpose of fighting or any animal trained for fighting. Guard dogs are excepted from this provision.

DD."Wildlife Control Officer" means any person designated by the city to handle and control issues dealing with wild animals or any dangerous rabid or potentially rabid animal.

EE."Zoological Park" means any facility, other than a pet shop or kennel, displaying or exhibiting one (1) or more of non-domestic animals operated by any person, partnership or corporation or any governmental agency in accordance with Massachusetts General laws. (Added 04/02/2007)