For the purposes herein, the following words and phrases shall be defined as follows:

(a)   Cat: all members of the Felis catus, male or female, six (6) months of age or older.

(b)   City Manager: shall include his or her deputy, delegate, alternate or appointee.

(c)   Household: those members of a family or other persons living in one dwelling unit.

(d)   Own: shall include own as commonly defined and include in addition: keeping, harboring, sheltering, managing, or possessing or to have a part interest in any cat. If a minor owns a cat, subject to the provisions hereof, the head of the household of which such minor owner is a member shall be deemed the owner of such cat for the purposes hereof and shall be responsible as the owner, whether or not such household head is himself a minor. If not a member of a household, any such minor owner shall himself be directly subject to the provisions of this article and such shall be deemed to constitute a misdemeanor violation prosecutable in juvenile court.

(e)   Owner: one who owns, as defined herein, his employee or agent or other person, whether employed or not, and whether or not an actual agency exists into whose charge the actual owner has committed the cat’s care or control, whether for fee or otherwise.

(f)   Person: An individual, any firm, association, partnership or corporation.

(Code 1961, 6-11-1; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

(a)   It shall be unlawful for any person within the corporate limits of the city to own or keep any cat without having the cat inoculated against rabies according to current, recognized veterinary practices. The rabies inoculation shall be administered as directed by Kansas law and shall be attested by or under the signature of a Kansas licensed veterinarian, showing at least the manufacturer of such vaccine together with the lot number of the vaccine actually used for the inoculation, the date such was administered and the manufacturer’s stated life span or period of efficacy of such. Such inoculation shall be maintained in a current state at all times; and

(b)   It shall be unlawful for any person within the corporate limits of the city to own or keep any cat without registering such cat with the City Clerk, as provided by this article, and no cat shall be allowed outside the owner’s dwelling unless the cat shall wear a collar or harness with the registration tag issued by the city securely affixed thereto in such a manner that it may at all times be easily visible.

(Code 1961, 6-11-2; Ord. 3895; Code 2023)

All cat registrations issued by the City Clerk hereunder shall be valid until December 31 of the year in which the same are issued; provided, however, such registration shall be subject to cancellation at the expiration of the rabies vaccination certificate as elsewhere provided in this article.

(Code 1961, 6-11-3; Ord. 3895; Code 2023)

Between January 1 and before March 1 of each year, the cat owner shall register all cats owned or kept by such owner with the City Clerk and shall pay the following fees:

(a)   Seven dollars and fifty cents ($7.50) for each neutered or sexually altered cat.

(b)   Twenty dollars ($20.00) for each cat which has not been neutered or sexually altered.

(c)   It shall be presumed that any cat is in a natural state unless and until the owner thereof shall present satisfactory evidence to the contrary in the form of a certified statement of a licensed veterinarian or by a statement of the owner verified under oath. Such evidence may be permanently entered or filed in the City Clerk’s registration books.

(Code 1961, 6-11-4; Ord. 3895; Code 2023)

On and after March 1 of each year, the City Clerk shall collect a registration fee of twice the amount provided in section 2-304; provided, however, that new residents of the city or persons acquiring a cat or owning a cat which attains the age of registration after January 1 of any year shall have ten (10) days from such date of residency, acquisition, or attainment of age to register such cat at the fee set forth in section 2-304; otherwise the late registration fees in this section shall apply.

(Code 1961, 6-11-5; Ord. 3895; Code 2023)

(a)   No registration shall be accomplished unless the owner or keeper of the cat shall present a certificate or other satisfactory proof showing then current inoculation against rabies. Upon payment of the fees required by this article, the City Clerk shall record the following information for each cat registered: the owner’s name and address; the color, breed, sex, age, weight, names (if any), and date of vaccination of cat. After recording said information, the City Clerk shall issue a license to said owner, and shall provide for each cat so registered a tag of metal or other durable substance, having stamped or marked thereon the registration number which corresponds to the number of the registration record. This tag shall be kept on the cat at all times when the cat is outside the owner’s dwelling.

(b)   In the event any such tag is lost or becomes illegible, replacement tags shall be issued upon the payment of the sum of five dollars ($5.00) each.

(c)   In the event the rabies vaccination certificate expires during any registration period, the City Clerk shall thirty (30) days prior to such expiration date notify the licensee of the forthcoming expiration and in such notice shall advise that the annual registration is subject to revocation if such vaccination is allowed to expire. If, at the said date of expiration, renewal certification of rabies vaccination shall not be provided, the City Clerk shall notify the licensee that the registration on such cat is revoked and that the licensee is liable to citation and prosecution if such cat remains in the licensee’s custody within the City of Garnett. All such notices shall be mailed by first class mail to licensee at the address on such license.

(d)   The City Clerk may between December 1 and December 31 of each year cause notice to be given of the upcoming registration period for cats by publication or advertisement in an official city newspaper.

(Code 1961, 6-11-6; Ord. 3895; Code 2023)

The provisions of this article with respect to registration shall not apply to any cat owned by any person who is visiting or temporarily remaining within the city for a period of less than thirty (30) days; however, all such cats as may be visiting shall be kept under restraint by the owner of such cat at all times.

(Code 1961, 6-11-7; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

It shall be unlawful for any person to permit any cat to trespass upon and to do injury to public or private property of another.

(Code 1961, 6-11-8; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

Any cat which has not been sexually altered shall be kept securely confined in an enclosed place during such cat’s estrus cycle.

(Code 1961, 6-11-9; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

If there is a change in ownership of a registered cat during the license year, the new owner may have the current license transferred to his name upon the payment of a transfer fee of one dollar ($1.00), said payment to be made within ten (10) days after such transfer of ownership; otherwise the former registration and license issued shall lapse and the cat shall be subject to reregistration in the new owner’s name.

(Code 1961, 6-11-10; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

Any cat in violation of this article within the corporate limits of the city shall be subject to impoundment by the City Manager and a record of all cats impounded shall be kept. Such impoundment record shall include the following information:

(a)   Color, sex, weight, height, identifying marks, registration number, and if applicable rabies vaccination number and the date of impoundment.

(b)   If the cat so impounded has no current registration tag, it shall be kept for three (3) days and if within that time the owner does not appear to claim such cat, it may be sold, euthanized, or otherwise disposed of. If within the three (3) days of impoundment, the owner of such cat shall appear and claim the cat, it shall be turned over to that person who claims it upon payment of all actual costs of impoundment and upon that person’s compliance with registration and vaccination requirements.

(c)   If the cat so impounded has a current registration attached to its collar, the owner of such cat as shown by the records in the office of the City Clerk, shall be notified in writing as soon as possible within the three (3) day impoundment period. If at the end of such three (3) day impoundment period the City Clerk has been unable to locate the owner or the owner, upon having been located and notified, refuses to claim or redeem the cat, then the cat may be sold, euthanized, or otherwise disposed of.

(d)   Impoundment hereunder shall not preclude any court from imposing and executing any fine which might otherwise be levied under this article for violation of any of the provisions of this article; nor shall impoundment be a defense in any prosecution which may be commenced under this article.

(Code 1961, 6-11-11; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

(a)   Any cat which is suspected of having rabies or any cat which has bitten a human being and has thereby caused a laceration of the skin of such human being shall be seized and confined in a veterinary hospital for a period of fourteen (14) days; provided, however, the period of confinement may be shortened at the discretion of the veterinarian in charge of such hospital.

(b)   Any cat bitten by a known rabid animal, shall be seized and confined in a veterinary hospital as provided in subsection (a).

(c)   All expenses incurred in the confinement under this section shall be borne by the owner of such cat. If any cat impounded under this section shall not be claimed by the owner within the fourteen (14) day impoundment period, then the veterinarian shall transfer such cat to an impounding facility designated by the city where such cat shall be disposed of according to the provisions of section 2-311.

(Code 1961, 6-11-12; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

When there exists sufficient evidence to believe that rabies exists in any area of the city, the Governing Body may, by resolution require all cat owners within the corporate limits of the city to confine their cats or transport them only in an appropriate secure carrier of a type as is approved for transportation of cats on commercial airlines, with such period as may be designated in that resolution or until otherwise ordered; and it shall be unlawful for any person to permit a cat to run at large in violation of the terms of such resolution. Such a resolution shall not become effective unless and until the same is published one time in the official city newspaper.

(Code 1961, 6-11-13; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

The City Manager shall be authorized to use a tranquilizer gun or one or more sufficient traps in the enforcement of this article. He shall be further authorized to kill any cat which is impractical or impossible to catch, capture, or tranquilize and which is endangering persons.

(Code 1961, 6-11-14; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

It shall be unlawful for any person not duly authorized to break open or attempt to break open any enclosure in which cats are confined or held pursuant to the provisions of this article or to take, let out, or attempt to take or let out any cat placed therein by any officer of the city or to take or attempt to take from the custody of such officer any cat taken by him or otherwise in any manner to interfere with or hinder any officer of the city in the enforcement of this article.

(Code 1961, 6-11-15; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

The City Manager shall have the right of entry upon any private, unenclosed lots or lands for the purpose of collecting any cat whose presence thereupon is in violation of this article and it shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with the City Manager in the exercise of this right. The City Manager shall have the further right of entry upon property or premises during the period provided in section 2-312 and it shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with the City Manager in the exercise of that right.

(Code 1961, 6-11-16; Ord. 2956; Code 2023)

(a)   Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon the first conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00); upon a second conviction thereof within the three (3) years immediately preceding shall be fined in a sum of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00); and upon the third or subsequent conviction thereof within the three (3) years immediately preceding shall be fined in a sum not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) and in addition thereto, the offending cat may be ordered removed from the defendant’s possession and either destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the court and such defendant may be ordered, under penalty of contempt of court, to dispose of all other cats owned or kept by him or her and not to own, keep or possess any cat for a stated period of time up to two (2) years.

(b)   In all cases charging a violation of section 2-308 or 2-309, the court may impose a fine twice that set out in subsection (a) (but not to exceed the sum of $2,500.00), if the court also finds that the cat involved in the said violation was, at the time of the violation, an unregistered cat.

(Code 1961, 6-11-17; Ord. 3644; Code 2023)

It shall be unlawful for any person within the corporate limits of the city to keep more than four (4) cats at any premises, whether residential or commercial, unless such premises shall be licensed as a cattery and operated in an area properly zoned or otherwise in compliance with the zoning regulations of the city of Garnett, Kansas.

(Code 1961, 6-11-18; Ord. 3404; Code 2023)