Ordinance #189
An ordinance relating to Domestic and Exotic Animals within Ramona City Limits.
March 2016 amendment increased the number of goats allowed, per acre, from one to six.
Ordinance enacted: 10-12-09 Amended: 3-14-16
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF RAMONA:
SECTION I: Animals allowed in City limits
It is lawful for a person to maintain or have in his or her possession, within the city limits, the following animals and fowl, with the following provisions:
- Cows (fenced, 1 per acre; cow and calf (3 acres)
- Horses (fenced, 1 per acre)
- Sheep (fenced, 6 per acre)
- Goats (fenced, 6 per acre)
- Chickens (50 per household, free-range is allowed, unless there’s a complaint)
- Geese-ducks (fenced, 6 per household)
- Turkey (fenced, 6 per household)
- Rabbits (enclosed, 10 per household)
- Cats
- Dogs, which are regulated by Ordinance 196
SECTION II: Forbidden animals within city limits
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to keep, maintain, or have in his or her possession, or under his or her control within the city, any of the following animals:
- Pigs
- Donkeys
- Peacocks
- Guineas
- Ostrich
- Emu
- Raccoons
- Skunks
- Bobcats or wolves
- Poisonous or constricting snakes
- Any other wild or exotic animals
SECTION III: Care and Maintenance of animals
- Animals shall be maintained in quarters so constructed as to prevent their escape.
- The keeping or maintaining of such permitted animals/fowl will not constitute a nuisance or interference with enjoyment of life or property in the neighborhood
- The keeping or maintaining of such permitted animals/fowl will not constitute a menace to public health or breeding grounds for insects or vermin
- If animals in your care are not adequately housed, fenced, fed watered, or if grounds become a breeding place for insects and vermin, you will no longer be permitted to maintain such animals within city limits.
- Cows, horses, sheep, goats, shall not be kept in any building or enclosure which is connected to or used for residential purposes, or in yards next to houses, or within 50 feet of any residence. There must be adequate fencing to keep animals safely contained on a minimum of an acre of grassland.
- Acreage within city limits where horses, cows, sheep or goats are pastured, is to be maintained as grassland, and not over-grazed to the point of turning the land into a bare lot. If grass if overgrazed and destroyed, then it must be replanted, and animals removed from city limits until the pasture ground is restored.
- It is unlawful for any person to permit animals or fowl (other than chickens) to run at large within city limits, or to contain, or picket any animal in your yard, the city park, or on any public right-of-way within city limits.
- It is a nuisance for any person to keep any animal in such a manner as to become offensive to any person residing in the vicinity, or to the general public, due to noise or odor from said animals.
SECTION IV: Complaint Procedure
- If any of the animals housed on property cause a problem for immediate neighbors, resulting in complaints, the complaint must be submitted to the Council on the City Complaint Form. Complaints must be signed.
- If the Council sees a clear violation of the ordinance, the Mayor will send a certified letter to the offending party, giving them 10 days to come into compliance.
- If compliance does not occur within the time given, the complaint is turned over to the City Attorney for legal action.
SECTION V: Penalties
- Violation of this ordinance shall be deemed as unclassified misdemeanors, and shall be punishable by a fine of up to $500, and by other lawful order of the municipal judge, including orders of contempt.
- The municipal judge shall have the authority to order any animal deemed vicious confined, destroyed, or removed from the city
- If damage to property, injury to another animal or person, should occur because of another animal, the owner is responsible to compensate for the cost of the damage or injury.
This ordinance shall be effective from the date of its passage, and upon one publication in the Marion County Record, the official city newspaper.
Passed and approved by the governing body of the City of Ramona, this 14th day of March, 2016.
Mayor___________________________
Attest:
City Clerk
