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The following definitions shall apply to this title:

A. Altered” means an animal that has been spayed or neutered;

B. Abate” means to take action to remove a nuisance and may include confirming, isolating or destroying an animal;

C. Animal” shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

1. All animals, whether wild or tame, including, but not limited to, all reptiles, all aquatic animals, all birds and fowl, and all nonhuman mammals;

D. At large” means:

1. Being on private property without the permission of the owner or person who has the right to possess or use the property;

2. Being unrestrained by a leash on private property open to the public or on public property, unless a law or regulation expressly allows an animal to be unrestrained on the property. If a leash is not being held in the hand of a person capable of controlling the animal or a person is not actually controlling an animal attached to the leash, the animal is “at large”;

3. In a place or manner that presents a substantial risk of imminent interference with animal or public health, safety or welfare;

E. Attack” means an action by an animal which places a person in reasonable apprehension that the animal will cause the person immediate bodily harm;

F. Attack dog” has the same meaning as the term “attack dog” in Health and Safety Code Section 121881;

G. Barking dog” means a dog that barks, bays, cries, howls, or makes any noise for an extended period of time to the disturbance of any person at any time of day or night, regardless of whether the dog is physically situated in or upon private property. Such extended period of time shall consist of incessant barking for 60 minutes or more in any 24-hour period, or intermittent barking for 120 minutes or more during any 24-hour period. A dog shall not be deemed a “barking dog” for purposes of this section if, at any time the dog is barking, a person is trespassing or threatening to trespass upon private property in or upon which the dog is situated, or when the dog is being teased or provoked;

H. Bite” means an action by an animal with its teeth or mouth that breaks the skin of a human or animal and does not require the presence of teeth marks;

I. Cat” means any mammal of the genus and species Felis catus, of any breed or sex;

J. Cattery” means a place kept for the purpose of the boarding, breeding, raising, selling or exchanging of cats and which keeps or maintains 11 or more cats at least six months of age or older;

K. City” means the City of Chula Vista;

L. Curb” means to restrain or control an animal so that it urinates or defecates only in the street gutters;

M. Custodian” means a person who is not the owner of an animal, but who has been entrusted by the owner or the owner’s agent to care for and maintain an animal until it is returned to the owner;

N. Dangerous dog” means a dog that has attacked, bitten or in some other manner injured a person engaged in lawful activity: (1) two or more times in a 48-month period or (2) one or more times resulting in death or substantial injury; or a dog that clearly demonstrates, by its behavior, a propensity to attack or bite a person or animal without provocation (see CVMC 6.24.100(A)) or has been declared a “vicious dog” or “dangerous dog” by the City pursuant to CVMC 6.24.100(A) and/or applicable state law on this matter;

1. Dangerous dog” within the meaning of this section shall be deemed a public nuisance and shall be subject to the provisions of this code relating to dangerous dogs and public nuisances for the remainder of its life;

O. Declared dangerous dog” means a dog: (1) that the City has declared a dangerous dog after affording the dog’s owner or custodian the right to a hearing, (2) that a dog’s owner has stipulated is a dangerous dog or (3) that another jurisdiction has declared to be a dangerous or vicious dog;

P. Dispose of” means to make arrangements for an animal and includes euthanasia;

Q. Dog” means an animal of the genus and species Canis familiaris of any breed or sex or any other member of the Canis genus if a person owns, keeps or harbors the animal;

R. Dog license” means a certificate the City or other authorized agency issues indicating that a dog has been registered with animal control authorities;

S. Guard dog” has the same meaning as the term “guard dog” in Health and Safety Code Section 121881 and includes a “sentry dog” defined in Health and Safety Code Section 121880;

T. Guard dog operator” means the owner of an attack, guard or sentry dog, or other person that operates or maintains a business to sell, rent, or train an attack, guard or sentry dog;

U. Guard dog premises” means a place where a guard dog operator keeps or maintains an attack, guard or sentry dog;

V. Impound” or “impoundment” means an action by the City to take possession of an animal;

W. Kennel” means a facility, whether or not operated for profit, that keeps or maintains seven or more dogs at least four months of age or older. It includes a facility owned or operated by an animal welfare agency, but does not include an animal shelter operated or established by the City or a veterinary hospital operated by a veterinarian licensed by the state. A kennel also includes a facility with the requisite seven dogs that also keeps or maintains other animals. As used in this definition a “facility” means any combination of adjacent buildings, structures, enclosures or lots under common ownership or operated as one unit, to keep or maintain dogs;

X. Kennel house” means a protected space or enclosure in a kennel in which an animal is assigned to sleep, rest or be segregated from other animals;

Y. Kennel operator” means a person who owns, controls or operates a kennel or who participates in the control or operation of a kennel;

Z. Kitten” means a cat of four months or less of age;

AA. Leash” means any rope, leather strap, chain or other material six feet or less in length, intended to be held in the hand of a person for the purpose of controlling an animal to which it is attached;

BB. License tag” means the official tag the City or other authorized agency issues to a dog owner or custodian signifying the dog has been registered;

CC. Licensed dog” means a dog wearing its current dog license tag as required by this title;

DD. Neutered” means a male animal whose testicles have been surgically removed;

EE. Owner” means a person, other than a custodian, who owns, keeps or harbors an animal or a person who takes possession of an animal after claiming to be the owner;

FF. Pet seller” means anyone who sells more than two dogs and/or cats in Chula Vista in a 12-month period;

GG. Pet shop” means an establishment involved in selling or exchanging (but excluding boarding, breeding or raising) any birds, dogs, cats or other animals, all of which for the purpose of this title are called pets;

HH. Potentially dangerous animal” means any of the following:

1. An animal of a species or type likely to cause injury to a person;

2. An animal, other than a declared dangerous dog, which has within the prior 48-month period attacked, bitten or otherwise caused injury to a person engaged in lawful activity;

II. Primary enclosure” means a structure in a kennel, other than a kennel house, used to restrict an animal to a limited amount of space, such as a room, pen, run, fenced area, cage or compartment;

JJ. Protection dog” means any attack trained dog; any dog trained to guard, protect, patrol, or defend any premises, area or yard; or any dog trained to protect, defend, or guard any person or property with or without the necessity of direct human supervision;

KK. Puppy” means a dog of four months or less in age;

LL. Rabies certificate” means the certificate a licensed veterinarian, the City or other authorized agency issues verifying that an animal has been vaccinated against rabies;

MM. Sanitize” means to make physically clean and to remove and destroy, to the maximum degree that is practical, agents injurious to animal or human health;

NN. Service animal” means any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of this definition;

OO. Stray” means an animal that is “at large”;

PP. Spayed” means a female animal whose ovaries and uterus have been surgically removed;

QQ. Substantial injury” means a substantial impairment of a person’s physical condition which requires professional medical treatment, including loss of consciousness, concussion, bone fracture, protracted loss or impairment of function of a bodily member or organ, a muscle tear, a disfiguring laceration, a wound requiring multiple sutures or an injury that requires surgery to restore the person to the condition the person was in before the incident that resulted in the injury;

RR. Vaccinated dog” means a dog inoculated with an approved, currently valid antirabies vaccine, and wearing a current dog license tag indicating proof of such vaccination;

SS. Veterinarian” means a person currently licensed to practice veterinary medicine in the United States;

TT. Vicious dog” has the same meaning as the term “vicious dog” in Food and Agriculture Code Section 31603;

UU. Wild animal” means any animal of the classes of animals listed in Fish and Game Code Section 2116 et seq. and supplemented by 14 CCR Section 671 et seq., which are not normally domesticated or not allowed in the state of California. (Ord. 3234 § 1, 2012; Ord. 3226 § 1, 2012).