Modesto, California

5-4.501 – Purpose and Intent.

The City Council finds and declares that there exists a pet overpopulation problem in the City of Modesto that has resulted in a threat to public safety and health, inhumane treatment of animals, mass euthanasia of dogs and cats at the local animal shelters and escalating costs for animal care and control. The City Council finds that uncontrolled breeding is a contributing cause to these problems. The City Council finds that part of the solution is for all dogs four (4) months or older to be licensed and spayed or neutered, unless the owners purchase the appropriate licenses/permits for the privilege of maintaining the animal intact and allowing it to breed. The City Council also finds that an increase in the license fee for unaltered dogs will encourage dog owners to spay/neuter their dog(s) in order to qualify for the lower altered dog license fee. Further, the City Council finds that regulating the breeding and transfer of dogs and cats will help alleviate the City’s pet overpopulation problem.

5-4.503 – Litter Permit.

(a) No person shall cause or allow any dog or cat owned, harbored or kept within the City of Modesto to breed without first obtaining a litter permit. The term litter permit means a written authorization, issued annually by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director or his/her designee, giving its lawful holder permission to breed a dog or a cat.

(b) Each litter permit shall be valid for one (1) year from the date of issuance, and may be renewed annually before its expiration date. Each applicant for a litter permit shall pay an annual fee, as prescribed by the City Council and set forth in Section 5-2.201 of this title.

(c) The Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services shall administer an animal litter permit program to allow the breeding of unaltered dogs and cats consistent with criteria and according to procedures established by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director. Under no circumstances shall such a litter permit be issued to a person who has been convicted of animal cruelty or neglect.

(d) In addition to the criteria and procedures established by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Directors, litter permits shall contain the following terms and conditions:

(1) The owner of an unaltered female dog or cat shall not allow the whelping of more than one (1) litter per animal in any household within the permit year. Notwithstanding this provision, the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director or his/her designee is hereby authorized, upon application of a permittee, to allow, on a one (1) time basis, the whelping of up to two (2) dog or cat litters per breeding animal within any domestic household within a permit year, if the permittee established, according to regulations promulgated by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services, including a veterinarian verification of health status that such breeding is required due to the health of the animal. In the event that a permittee is forced to euthanize a litter of dogs or cats, the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director or his/her designee may authorize the whelping of one (1) additional litter of dogs or cats within the same permit year by the permittee.

(2) No offspring may be sold, adopted, bartered, or otherwise transferred, whether for compensation or otherwise, until it has reached the age of at least seven (7) weeks and the offspring have received its first immunization against common diseases.

(3) Any holder of a litter permit who advertises to the public the availability of any dog or cat for sale, adoption or transfer, whether for compensation or otherwise, must prominently display the litter permit number in any such advertisement. Further, the litter permit holder must provide the permit number to any person who purchases, adopts or receives any animal from the permit holder and include the permit number on any receipt of sale or transfer document.

(4) Commercial establishments selling locally bred dogs or cats shall prominently display the litter permit number(s) of the breeder(s) whose dogs and cats are sold in said establishments and any other pertinent information required by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director or his/her designee; commercial establishments selling dogs and cats which were not bred within the City of Modesto shall prominently display the name and address of the breeder(s) of such dogs and cats and any other pertinent information required by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director.

(5) Any litter permit holder selling or otherwise transferring a dog or cat, whether for compensation or otherwise, shall maintain records for a period of three (3) years containing the name, address, and telephone number of the animal’s new owner on a Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services’ approved form.

(6) Any litter permit holder or commercial establishment which sells or otherwise transfers a dog or cat, whether for compensation or otherwise, shall provide to the new animal owner written information regarding the license and permit requirements of the City of Modesto applicable to such animal.

(7) Any litter permit holder shall have his/her dog or cat microchipped or have some other form of identification acceptable to the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services and shall register the dog or cat with the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services.

(e) The following animals are exempt from the litter permit requirements:

(1) Dogs documented as having been appropriately trained and actively used by law enforcement agencies for law enforcement and rescue activities;

(2) Dogs documented as guide, signal, or service dogs pursuant to California Penal Code Sections 365.5(d), (e) and (f) and successor sections;

(3) Dogs and cats under the care of governmental animal control agencies; animal rescue organizations which have demonstrated to the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services that they have implemented an ongoing spay/neuter plan, as well as an adoption plan; or humane societies or societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, if such societies are incorporated under the provisions of California Corporations Code Section 10400 and the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law in Part 2 of the California Corporations Code, beginning at Section 5110, and successor sections; and

(4) Dogs documented as enrolled in a guide, signal or service dog breeding program administered by a person licensed under Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section 7200) Division 3 of the California Business and Professions Code.

5-4.504 – Penalties.

(a) Any cat or dog owner found by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services or City of Modesto Animal Control to be in violation of the litter permit provisions of this section may correct the violations by obtaining the necessary permit(s) mentioned in this section, no later than thirty (30) days from the date when the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services or the City of Modesto had first notified the owner of the violation. Should the owner fail to correct the violations in the manner described above, the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services shall impose a five hundred dollar ($500.00) penalty on the dog or cat owner. Notice of this penalty shall be served by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services on the dog or cat owner by mail. The penalty shall not be waived by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services upon the transfer or abandonment of the dog or cat by the noncompliant owner. This penalty shall be imposed in addition to any other applicable civil or criminal penalties.

If the penalty mentioned in this subsection is not paid and the owner does not microchip or has some other form of identification acceptable to the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services, spay or neuter his/her dog(s) or cat(s), or obtain the litter permit(s) within fifteen (15) days from the date when Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services or the City of Modesto first notified the owner of the imposition of a penalty, the continuing violation of the litter permit requirement of this section becomes an additional infraction and may be prosecuted as such.

(b) Any litter permit issued pursuant to Section 5-4.503 of this chapter may be revoked if the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director or his/her designee has reasonable causes to believe any of the following to be true:

(1) The permittee has violated any City or County ordinances relating to the keeping, care or use of any animal.

(2) The permittee is in violation of any State health or safety law or regulation regarding animal care or control.

(3) The permittee has failed to comply with any condition or requirement of the permit or has failed to pay any fee imposed under this Code.

(4) The permittee refused to allow inspection, upon forty-eight (48) hours written notice, of any animal covered by the permit or the premises on which the animal is kept.

(5) The permittee has transferred, sold or otherwise disposed of the animal for which the permit was originally issued.

(c) If, after inspection, the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director or his/her designee concludes that it is probable that one (1) or more of the above grounds for revocation has occurred, it shall cause written notice thereof to be transmitted by mail to the address of the litter permittee. Said notice shall specify the grounds of possible revocation of the litter permit and shall specify a date and time for an informal hearing to be held before the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director or his/her designee. Said date shall be not less than five (5) days subsequent to the date the notice is mailed. After the informal hearing, the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director may modify the terms of the litter permit or revoke the litter permit.

(d) The litter permittee may appeal the decision of the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services Director or his/her designee to the Animal Court if the permittee gives written notice of such appeal within five (5) working days of the decision.

(e) Failure to comply with any of the requirements mentioned in Section 5-4.503 of this chapter is an infraction punishable by a one hundred dollar ($100.00) fine for the first occurrence, two hundred dollars ($200.00) for the second occurrence and three hundred dollars ($300.00) for each subsequent occurrence, except as set forth in subsection (a) of this section.

5-4.505 – Sale, Adoption and other Transfers of Dogs and Cats.

(a) Any person who offers or provides, whether for compensation or otherwise, any dog or cat for sale or other type of transfer, shall disclose the transferee information regarding the dog license and permit requirements of the City of Modesto applicable to the transferred animal.

(b) No person shall present any unaltered dog or cat under six (6) months of age for sale, barter, exchange, or adoption, whether for compensation or otherwise, in any public place, without first obtaining a litter permit pursuant to City of Modesto Municipal Code Section 5-4.503. The term public place shall include, but not be limited to, streets, highways, sidewalks, parks, carnivals, shopping malls, flea markets, boardwalks, and areas in front of commercial establishments. This prohibition shall not apply to:

(1) Government agencies, nonprofit animal rescue organizations exempt from taxation under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3); or humane societies or societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals if such societies are incorporated under the provisions of California Corporations Code Section 10400 and the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law in Part 2 of the California Corporations Code, beginning at Section 5110;

(2) Show dogs or show cats; or

(3) Permitted pet stores which sell or otherwise transfer dogs or cats, whether for compensation or otherwise, within the store.

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(g) Failure to display the litter permit number or include it in any advertisement for sale, adoption or other transfer of dogs and cats is an infraction punishable by a one hundred dollar ($100.00) fine for the first occurrence, two hundred dollars ($200.00) for the second occurrence and three hundred dollars ($300.00) for each subsequent occurrence. Each day a violation occurs is a separate violation.

5-4.506 – Licensing.

(a) Any person owning or having custody of any dog four (4) months or older shall pay an annual license fee. The license fee for dogs shall be established by the City Council. The increased fees collected by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services for unaltered dogs, less administrative costs, shall be used to pay for vouchers to support spay/neuter programs.

(b) Any person owning or having custody of any unaltered dog which meets any of the following criteria shall pay a reduced unaltered annual license fee, as listed in Section 5-2.201 of this title.

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(2) An owner who registers and participates in an American Kennel Club (AKC), United Kennel Club (UKC), or other State or nationally recognized organization and is a member of a parent club or organization for the purposes of showing, training, agility trials, or hunting and provides documentation to the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services of such membership and participation in the above animal activities.

(c) If the owner fails to obtain the dog license required in this section, upon the expiration of the thirty (30) days, the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services shall impose a twenty-five dollar ($25.00) late penalty on the owner of the dog. This late fee shall not be waived by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services upon the transfer or abandonment of the dog by the noncompliant owner. This late penalty shall be imposed in addition to any other applicable civil or criminal penalties and all penalties shall be placed in the Stanislaus County Alternative to Euthanasia (SCATE) Program to be used for spaying or neutering of cats and dogs.

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(f) A cat owner may voluntarily obtain a license for their cat. If the cat owner voluntarily purchases a cat license, then the cat owner shall be eligible to receive a voucher for the spay/neuter identification program operated by the Stanislaus County Department of Animal Services.