Fort Worth City Code § 6-61 UNLAWFUL ACTS ENUMERATED.
§ 6-61 UNLAWFUL ACTS ENUMERATED.
(a) It shall be unlawful for a person to crop a dog's ears, dock a tail, remove dew claws or perform other surgical procedures on a dog or a cat except as provided by the "Veterinary Licensing Act," Tex. Occ. Code Ch. 801, as amended from time to time.
(b) It shall be unlawful for a person to sell or deliver live chickens, ducklings, goslings or rabbits less than eight weeks of age to any person in quantities of less than five.
(c) It shall be unlawful for a person to sell, offer for sale, barter or display any living chickens, rabbits, ducks or any other fowl or animal which has been dyed, colored or otherwise treated so as to impart to them an artificial color.
(d) It shall be unlawful for a person to give away any live animal as a prize or inducement for the purpose of attracting trade or business.
(e) It shall be unlawful for a person to use steel jaw or leg-hold traps except in the case of rat control.
(f) It shall be unlawful for any person to beat, starve, overwork or to otherwise abuse any animal.
(g) It shall be unlawful for an owner or other person having care and control of any animal to abandon said animal.
(h) It shall be unlawful for a person to confine an animal in a parked or standing vehicle in such a way as to endanger the animal's health, safety or welfare. It is presumed that an animal's health, safety or welfare is endangered when the animal is confined in a parked or standing vehicle for a period of five or more minutes when the ambient outside air temperature measures above 85°F or below 35°F.
(i) Except as provided for in § 6-13 (e), it shall be unlawful for a person to use a chain, rope, tether, leash, cable or other device to attach a dog to a stationary object or trolley system. Restraint under such conditions is presumed to be cruel confinement for purposes of this chapter.
(j) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection (j), it shall be unlawful for a person to confine an animal for a substantial portion of the day in an outdoor enclosure that provides less than 48 square feet of space for each animal that it contains that is at least six months old. It is presumed that an animal is being confined for a substantial portion of the day if a police officer, animal care and control officer, code enforcement officer or the person charged with enforcing this ordinance witnesses the animal in said enclosure at least twice on the same day at two separate times that are at least five hours apart.
(2) The prohibition in this subsection (j) shall not apply to:
a. Registered non-profit agencies that keep animals for purposes of rescue, rehabilitation or adoption so long as such animals are otherwise maintained in accordance with the requirements of this chapter; or
b. Situations in which animals are being boarded for a period of less than 30 days so long as such animals are otherwise maintained in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.
(k) (1) It shall be unlawful for a person to knowingly manufacture, buy, sell, barter, exchange, possess, advertise or otherwise offer equipment used for training or handling a fighting bird, including, but not limited to, a cage, decoy, pen, house for keeping a fighting bird, feeding apparatus, training pen or a gaff, slasher or other sharp implement designed for attachment to a fowl with the intent that the equipment be used in bird fighting. For purposes of this provision, GAFF means an artificial steel spur designed to attach to the leg of a fowl to replace or supplement the fowl's natural spur, and SLASHER means a steel weapon resembling a curved knife blade designed to attach to the foot of a fowl.
(2) For purposes of this subsection (k), it is presumed that equipment is intended to be used for bird fighting if the decoy or gaff, slasher or other implement:
a. Bears blood or other biological matter or residue; or
b. If a police officer, animal care and control officer, code enforcement officer or other person charged with enforcing this article witnesses the decoy or implement:
1. Attached to a bird; or
2. In the pen, coop or yard in which the bird is located.
(l) The actions prohibited by this section are in addition to any prohibitions existing elsewhere in this code or any applicable state or federal law. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any duty imposed on an owner by any other provision of this code or any applicable state or federal law.
(m) (1) Public safety officers, including officers in the city code compliance department, public health, fire and police departments, shall have the authority to seize any animal that is the subject of any violation of this section if doing so is believed to be necessary to protect the animal's health, safety or welfare.
(2) If an officer personally witnesses a violation of any provision of this section occurring in plain view from or on public property, the officer may seize the animal without seeking issuance of a warrant even if doing so requires entering onto or into private property.
(3) If an animal is seized without a warrant under subsection (m)(2) above, a timely post-seizure hearing shall be held to satisfy the constitutional requirements of due process.
(n) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent public safety officers, including officers in the city code compliance department, public health, fire and police departments from euthanizing animals when authorized to do so by any statute, ordinance or law, or when such action is deemed necessary to spare the animal unreasonable pain and suffering or in the interest of the public health and safety.
(o) It shall be unlawful for an owner or other person having care and control of a dog or cat to fail to promptly remove and dispose of, in a sanitary manner, feces left by the dog or cat. It shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution under this subsection (o) that the person in control of the dog or cat is the owner of the premises, or the agent of the owner of the premises, where the dog or cat deposits feces.
(p) It shall be unlawful to allow accumulation of animal feces and urine in violation of Appendix B of the code of the City of Fort Worth.
(q) It shall be unlawful to keep large animals in violation of Appendix A of the code of the City of Fort Worth.
(r) It shall be unlawful to keep swine in violation of Appendix B of the code of the City of Fort Worth.
(s) It shall be unlawful to keep pigeons and certain fowl in violation of Appendix B of the code of the City of Fort Worth.
(t) It shall be unlawful to ride, tether or pasture any animal in parks or recreation areas in violation of Ch. 24 of the code of the City of Fort Worth.
(u) It shall be unlawful to walk a dog without a leash in a city park or in an event area or otherwise be in violation of either Ch. 24 or Ch. 20 of the code of the City of Fort Worth.
(v) It shall be unlawful to walk a dog or ride a horse within the confines of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden in violation of Ch. 24 of the code of the City of Fort Worth.
(Ord. 23295-06-2018, § 1, passed 6-26-2018, eff. 7-6-2018)