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Royal Oak Dog Laws
Chapter 195. ANIMALS – Article III. Dogs
§ 195-8. Short Title.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the “Dog Ordinance.”
§ 195-9. Definitions.
The following terms when used in this article shall have the definitions set forth in this section:
AT LARGE – Off the premises of the owner and not under reasonable control.
DOG – Any dog, whether male, female or unsexed.
DOG LITTER – Fecal matter or excrement issuing from dogs.
OWNER – When applied to the proprietorship of a dog, shall include every person having a right of property in such dog, and every person who keeps or harbors such dog or has it in his care, and every person who permits such dog to remain in or about any premises occupied by him.
PRIVATE PROPERTY – Any land, building, sidewalk, driveway, parking lot, street, roadway or roadbed, park, playground or other recreation area which is not owned or leased by the City of Royal Oak, or any other such property not owned or leased by the State of Michigan, Oakland County, the Royal Oak Board of Education or any agency thereof, which property is located within the geographic boundaries of the City of Royal Oak.
PUBLIC PROPERTY – Any land, building, sidewalk, driveway, parking lot, street, roadway or roadbed, park playground or other recreation area which is either owned or leased by the City of Royal Oak or any other such property owned or leased by the State of Michigan, Oakland County, the Royal Oak Board of Education or any agency thereof, which property is located within the geographic boundaries of the City of Royal Oak.
REASONABLE CONTROL – Keeping a dog on a suitable leash, cord, chain or rope of sufficient strength while under control of the owner, member of the owner’s family or other responsible person who has the owner’s permission, in all cases other than while confined upon the owner’s property or while dog is confined in a closed automobile or shipping receptacle.
§ 195-10. License Required.
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to own, possess, keep, or harbor any dog six months of age or over without first having obtained a license therefor.
B. Any person becoming the owner of any dog six months or older which has not already been licensed in the City of Royal Oak shall, within 30 days, apply for and secure a license for such dog.
C. The owner of a dog which has been duly licensed in another jurisdiction shall make application for a City of Royal Oak dog license within 30 days after such dog has been brought within the City of Royal Oak.
§ 195-11. Application For Dog License; Certificate Of Vaccination Prerequisite To Issuance.
A. Individual dog licenses to own or harbor a dog shall be issued by the City Clerk upon application and payment of a license fee. An application for a license shall be accompanied by proof of vaccination of the dog in the form of a valid certificate of vaccination for rabies, with a vaccine license by the United States Department of Agriculture, signed by an accredited veterinarian.
B. If a valid certificate of rabies vaccination states that the dog has been given a one-year inoculation with in the past six months, a two-year inoculation within the past 18 months or a three-year inoculation within the past 30 months, then a one-year license may be issued.
C. If a valid certificate of rabies vaccination states that the dog has been given a two-year inoculation within the past six months or a three-year inoculation within the past 18 months, then a two-year license may be issued.
D. If a valid certificate of rabies vaccination states that the dog has been given a three-year inoculation within the past six months, then a three-year license may be issued.
§ 195-12. License fee; exemption; expiration.
A. The amount of the fee for a dog license shall be set by resolution of the City Commission.
B. This section does not apply to any dog which is used as defined in MCLA § 393.351 for a blind person as defined in MCLA § 393.351, to a hearing dog for a deaf or audibly impaired person as defined in MCLA § 752.61, or to a service dog for a physically limited person as defined in MCLA § 125.1351.
C. All dog licenses issued pursuant to this article shall expire on the expiration date of the rabies vaccination stated on the proof of vaccination presented at the time of license application.
§ 195-13. Tags.
Upon the issuance of a license, the Clerk shall deliver to the licensee a license tag of metal or other suitable material, containing the number of the license duly stamped or engraved thereon, and the year that the dog’s rabies vaccination expires. Absence of a license tag from any dog shall be prima facie evidence that the dog is not licensed, and any person finding such dog on his premises or running at large may seize and deliver such dog to the pound. No person shall remove any license tag from any dog without the consent of the person owning or harboring the dog, and no tag shall be used on the collar or harness of any dog other than the dog for which the tag was issued. In the case of the loss of a tag, the owner may secure a duplicate from the City Clerk upon payment of a fee set by resolution of the City Commission.
§ 195-14. Barking dogs; dogs known or suspected to have rabies.
A. No person shall harbor or keep any dog which by loud, or frequent, or habitual barking, yelping or howling shall cause a serious annoyance to the neighborhood or to people passing to and fro upon the streets.
B. No person shall own or harbor a dog that has been bitten by any animal known to have been afflicted with rabies. Any person who shall have in his possession a dog which has contracted or is suspected of having contracted rabies, or which has been bitten by any animal suspected of being afflicted with rabies, or which has bitten any person, shall, upon demand of the Animal Control Officer, produce and surrender up said dog to the said Animal Control Officer to be held for observation for a period of 10 days; provided that, with the approval of the Animal Control Officer, any such dog may be surrendered to a registered veterinarian or to any approved, nonprofit corporation organized for the purpose of sheltering dogs, or may be confined for a period of 10 days at the owner’s home. It shall be unlawful for any person to remove or allow the removal from his premises of a dog so confined for observation without the written permission of the Animal Control Officer. Every owner, or other person, upon ascertaining that a dog is rabid, shall immediately notify the Animal Control Officer or a police officer, who shall either remove the dog to the pound or summarily destroy it. Whenever any dog is brought to the pound for having bitten a person, the Animal Control Officer may, if deemed necessary and after holding such dog for a sufficient length of time to meet the requirements of the Health Department, cause such dog to be destroyed as a dangerous animal.
§ 195-15. Sanitation; Removal Of Dog Litter.
A. Duties of dog owners. Every dog owner or person in possession of a dog shall collect any dog litter left by their dog by retrieving same immediately following its deposit by the dog and thereafter disposing of such dog litter by flushing it down the toilet connected to a sanitary sewer system, by placement in an appropriate disposal system manufactured for the purpose of dog litter disposal, or by disposal on the dog owner’s property or the property of the person in possession of the dog.
B. Excrement removal device required. No person owning or possessing a dog shall cause or permit that dog to be in any area of any public property unless that person has in his immediate possession an appropriate device for the retrieval of dog excrement and an appropriate depository for the transmission of dog excrement to a receptacle located on property possessed or owned by that person.
C. No person shall remove dog litter from any place and thereafter cause it to be deposited on any public property or the private property of third parties.
D. No person shall place, deposit, throw or insert dog litter into any storm drain or storm sewer system in the City of Royal Oak.
§ 195-16. Running At Large.
It shall be unlawful for:
A. Any owner of any female dog to permit said female dog to go beyond the premises of such owner when she is in heat, unless said female dog is held properly in leash; or
B. Any owner to allow any dog to stray beyond his premises unless under reasonable control as defined by this article; or
C. Any owner to allow any dog to leave his premises under any conditions, unless such dog has been immunized against rabies; provided that nothing herein shall be interpreted to prevent an owner taking his dog to the offices of a veterinarian for purposes of having said dog immunized; or
D. Any owner to cause or permit any dog owned by him or under his control or custody to enter any park where a sign or signs are posted bearing the legend “No Dogs Allowed,” or other words to that effect. This section does not apply to any dog which is used as defined in § 393.351 for a blind person as defined in MCLA § 393.351, to a hearing dog for a deaf or audibly impaired person as defined in MCLA § 752.61, or to a service dog for a physically limited person as defined in MCLA § 125.1351.
§ 195-17. Cruelty.
No person owning or harboring any dog, or any other person, shall treat a dog in a cruel or inhuman manner, or wilfully or negligently cause or permit any dog to suffer unnecessary torture or pain. Failure to provide food, water or shelter shall be construed as cruelty.
§ 195-18. Animal Pound.
The City of Royal Oak shall provide and maintain a pound, and it shall be the duty of the Dog Warden, or any other person employed by the City Manager for that purpose, and of any police officer of the City, to promptly seize, take up and place in said pound all dogs that may be found running at large, or being kept or harbored any place within the City of Royal Oak contrary to the provisions of this article.
§ 195-19. Claiming impounded dogs; unclaimed dogs.
A. The owner of a dog impounded under the provisions of this article may claim said dog by properly identifying himself as the owner of said animal and upon meeting the following conditions:
(1) Payment of an impounding fee, a boarding fee and such other fees as shall be established by resolution of the City Commission.
(2) The showing of a dog license for said dog, or if such dog has no license, then the securing of such a license and the showing of proof of vaccination of said dog for rabies.
B. It shall be the duty of the Dog Warden to destroy in a humane manner all impounded dogs which are not claimed and released within one week after being impounded; provided, however, if in his judgment said dog is valuable or otherwise desirable for keeping, the Dog warden may dispose of said dog to any reasonable person who will undertake to remove said dog from the City or keep and harbor said dog within the City in accordance with the provisions of this article. The bodies of all dogs destroyed at the pound or elsewhere in the City shall be disposed of by the Dog Warden in a manner approved by the Health Department.
§ 195-20. Dog Canvass; Impounding Unlicensed Dogs.
It shall be the duty of the Animal Control Officer, or other person designated by the City Manager for the purpose, to make diligent inquiry as to the dogs owned, harbored, or kept, or kennels operated, in the City of Royal Oak, and whether such dogs or kennels are licensed. Any dog found without a valid license may be seized and impounded by the Animal Control Officer or other authorized person.
§ 195-21. Liability For Damages Caused By Dogs.
Every owner of a dog shall be liable for damages for any and all injuries to person or property caused by such dog, to be determined and collected in appropriate civil proceedings, and nothing in this article shall be construed to impose any liability upon the City of Royal Oak, its agents or employees, for damages caused by such dog.
§ 195-22. Violations And Penalties.
A. Any person or persons violating any of the provisions, except those provided for in Subsection B of this section, shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of not to exceed $500 or imprisonment of not to exceed 90 days, or both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
B. Violation of § 195-15.
(1) A person violating § 195-15 for the first occasion is responsible for a municipal civil infraction and subject to payment of a civil fine of not less than $200, plus costs.
(2) A person violating § 195-15 for a second occasion is responsible for a municipal civil infraction and subject to payment of a civil fine of not less than $300, plus costs.
(3) A person violating § 195-15 for the third or subsequent occasions is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to fines of not more than $500 and/or not more than 90 days in jail, and costs, at the discretion of the court.
C. Exceptions. This section does not apply to any dog which is used as defined in MCLA § 393.351 for a blind person as defined in MCLA § 393.351, to a hearing dog for a deaf or audibly impaired person as defined in MCLA § 752.61, or to a service dog for a physically limited person as defined in MCLA § 125.1351.
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