Chapter 6.05
GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS
Sections:
6.05.020 Enforcement authority.
6.05.030 Inspection authority.
6.05.010 Definitions.
For the purpose of this title, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning, the words, terms, and phrases set forth in this section shall have the meanings given them in this section:
(a) “Abandon” means an animal that is left without proper and necessary care for the animal’s well-being for 24 hours or an unreasonable period of time. “Abandoned animal” shall also mean any animal, lawfully impounded by the city, for which the owner has not paid fees, rates or charges relating to the detention of the animal.
(b) “Animal” means any live vertebrate creature, domestic or wild, except fish.
(c) “Animal control officer” means any person authorized to enforce the provisions of this title, or any person authorized by the county health officer in the enforcement of rabies control laws and in the enforcement of state laws related to animals.
(d) “Animal services manager” means the person authorized by the city manager, by designation, delegation or contract, to administer and enforce the provisions of this title and applicable state laws pertaining to the care, destruction, impoundment, licensing, and treatment of animals, or his or her authorized representative or designee.
(e) “Animal shelter” means the Tri-City Animal Shelter or any other facility designated by the city manager or his or her designee for the purpose of impounding and caring for all animals found in violation of this chapter, or surrendered to the city by their owners, and shall be a facility devoted to the welfare, protection and humane treatment of all animals.
(f) “At large” means:
(1) General. The presence of any animal when it is off the premises of its owner and not restrained by a six-foot leash under the control of a person physically capable of retaining control of the animal, or when the animal is on the premises of its owner and not restrained by a six-foot leash, fence or other adequate enclosure sufficient to prevent ingress and egress of the animal or not under the control and/or the immediate presence of its owner;
(2) Animal in Heat. For the purposes of this provision, “at large” shall also mean outside a house, vehicle or other enclosure adequate to prevent male dogs gaining access to a female dog while she is in heat.
(g) “Bite” means any cut, laceration, tear, bruise, abrasion, or injury inflicted in or on the epidermis of a person or animal, whether or not that bite is considered a rabies risk by the State of California Health Department.
(h) “Dangerous animal” means any wild, exotic or venomous animal, or other animal which, because of its size, disposition, or other characteristic, would constitute a danger to persons or property.
(i) “Exotic animal” means any poisonous reptile or other wild animal or any vicious or dangerous animal or other animal of wild, vicious or dangerous propensities, requiring a standard of care and control greater than required for customary household pets or domestic farm animals.
(j) “Livestock” means all domestic or domesticated bovine (cattle type), equine (horse type), ovine (sheep type), porcine (swine type), corvine (deer like), caprine (goat type), lama (llama type), vicuna (alpaca type) and ratite (ostrich type) animals. Livestock shall also include ducks and geese.
(k) “Owner” means any person over the age of 18 who has title to or a legal interest in or acknowledges title to or a legal interest in an animal or who harbors, controls, has custody or possession of any animal or who knowingly permits an animal to remain on or about the premises occupied by the owner. All adults residing at the same property address shall be rebuttably presumed to be the owner of any animal owned, possessed, harbored or controlled on the property.
(l) “Person” means any individual, domestic or foreign corporation, partnership, association of any kind, trust, fraternal society, cooperative or any other organization or group of persons acting in concert.
(m) “Person with the right to control” means any natural person who harbors or has control, custody, or possession of an animal.
(n) “Police dog” means any dog that is officially used by a law enforcement officer in the course of law enforcement duties.
(o) “Potentially dangerous dog” or “potentially dangerous dog behavior” means any dog other than a police dog that has committed any of the following acts:
(1) Engages in threatening behavior that requires defensive action by the threatened person to prevent bodily injury; or
(2) Kills or causes an injury to another domestic animal requiring veterinary care; or
(3) Bites or injures a person which results in an injury that is less than a severe injury.
(p) “Quarantine” means isolation of an animal in a place and manner approved by the animal services manager.
(q) “Service animal” means any dog or miniature horse that is trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities, including but not limited to guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
(r) “Severe injury” means any physical injury to a human being or domestic animal that results in muscle tears, broken bones or disfiguring lacerations, or requires multiple sutures or corrective or cosmetic surgery.
(s) “Small animal” means any animal other than a dog, cat, chicken, pigeon, dove, rabbit, or livestock, normally weighs under 50 pounds, and is not banned by the state of California.
(t) “Vaccination” means a protective inoculation against rabies with an antirabies vaccine recognized and approved by the Alameda County health department.
(u) “Vicious dog” or “vicious dog behavior” means any dog other than a police dog that has committed or meets any of the following:
(1) When unprovoked, inflicts severe injury on or kills a person;
(2) Declared a dangerous or vicious dog in another jurisdiction; or
(3) Determined to be, and is currently designated as, a potentially dangerous dog which, after its owner or person with a right to control the dog has been notified of this determination, continues the behavior described in subsection (o) of this section or is maintained in violation of Chapter 6.60.
(v) “Apiary” or “apiaries” means a place where honey bees (apis mellifera) are kept; a collection of beehives. “Beekeeping” is included under this definition.
(w) “Beehive” or “beehives” means the box or boxes in which honeybees are kept and from which honey and honeycomb are collected.
(x) “Responsible beekeeper” means the person or entity responsible for the placement, maintenance and safety of any individual hive or apiary. (Ord. 16-2018 § 1, 6-5-18; Ord. 02-2023 § 1, 3-7-23.)
6.05.020 Enforcement authority.
(a) The animal services manager and animal control officers are authorized to:
(1) Enforce the provisions of this title and state laws relating to the care, treatment, impoundment, and destruction of animals.
(2) Arrest any person who violates any provision of this title deemed a misdemeanor pursuant to Cal. Penal Code § 836.5, as may be amended.
(3) Issue administrative citations pursuant to Chapter 1.20.
(b) The animal services manager is authorized to establish rules and regulations in conformity with and for the purpose of carrying out the intent of this title. (Ord. 16-2018 § 1, 6-5-18.)
6.05.030 Inspection authority.
The animal services manager and any employee of the city authorized to enforce the provisions of this title may enter upon and inspect any premises where any animal is kept or harbored, to the extent permitted and in the manner provided by law, when such entry is reasonably necessary to enforce the provisions of this title. (Ord. 16-2018 § 1, 6-5-18.)
6.05.040 Other laws.
Nothing in this title is intended to supersede the provisions of the city of Fremont zoning code or other applicable codes, federal or state statutes, or county ordinances. (Ord. 16-2018 § 1, 6-5-18.)