Proposed Kennel General By-Law
ARTICLE 28
KENNELS AND ANIMAL CONTROL APPEALS BOARD
28.1. Definitions
As used in this article, the following words and terms have the following meanings:
(a) Keeper shall mean any person having charge of a dog within the Town of Belmont, including but not limited to the dog's owner, dog walkers, dog sitters, members of the dog owner's household or family.
(b) Kennel shall mean four or more dogs, six months of age or older, kept on a single property, whether for boarding, breeding, sale, training, hunting, companionship, or any other purpose.
(c) Kennel License shall mean a special license issued to a kennel, which allows payment of a single fee covering all dogs in the kennel; with the kennel license, the kennel owner receives a special kennel tag for each dog in the kennel.
(d) License shall mean a dog's registration, evidenced by a tag issued annually by the Town Clerk to the owner of each dog residing in Belmont and worn by the dog securely fixed to its collar or harness.
(e) License Period shall be annually from January 1 through December 31.
Any word or term defined in Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 140, Section 136A, and not otherwise defined here, is incorporated by reference.
28.2. Licenses, Inspections and Hearings
28.2.1. License and vaccination requirements.
Anyone who owns or boards four or more dogs within the Town of Belmont must apply for and obtain a kennel license from the Town Clerk. To obtain or renew the license, the kennel licensee must present proof of current rabies vaccinations for each dog in the kennel older than six months. When it is off the kennel property, each dog in the kennel must wear a kennel tag, issued by the Town Clerk, affixed to its collar or harness.
28.2.2. New dogs and new puppies.
The kennel licensee must report to the Town Clerk each new dog in the kennel within 30 days of its acquisition, show proof of current vaccination, and obtain a kennel tag for that dog. The kennel licensee must show proof of current vaccination and obtain a tag for each puppy when it reaches six months old.
28.2.3. Application process.
Every applicant for a new kennel license must first obtain a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, as provided in the Belmont Zoning By-Law, Paragraph 3.3. The applicant may then submit an application to the Town Clerk on a form prescribed by the Clerk.
28.2.4. Inspection process.
Before the Town Clerk can issue the kennel license, the Board of Health must inspect the proposed
kennel, file a report with the Town Clerk on the inspection, and favorably recommend in the report that the kennel meets all the following requirements:
(a) The location and operation of the kennel is appropriate for housing multiple dogs and will be consistent with the health and safety of the dogs and of the neighbors;
(b) The location of the kennel on the property will have no significant adverse effect on the peace and quiet or sanitary conditions of the neighborhood;
(c) The kennel will be operating in a manner that it will cause no nuisance to the public;
(d) The area provided for housing, feeding, and exercising dogs is no closer than 20 feet to any lot line;
(e) The area provided for housing, feeding, and exercising dogs is no closer than 50 feet to any existing dwelling on an abutting lot;
(f) The kennel will be operating in a safe, sanitary, and humane condition;
(g) The kennel shall be limited to the total of 25 dogs on the premises at any one time. Records of the numbers and identities of the dogs will be properly kept;
(h) No protection or security dogs or protection or security dogs in training will be kept on the premises; and
(i) The operations of the kennel, including the exercising of dogs, will be in an enclosed area, except that individual dogs may be exercised one at a time, on a leash, in a prescribed outdoors area.
28.2.5. Periodic inspections.
Before a kennel license is renewed the Board of Health shall inspect the kennel; and at any time the Board of Selectmen or the Board of Health believe it necessary the Board of Health may inspect any kennel. If the Board of Health determines that the kennel license holder is in violation of any of the provisions of Section 28.2.4, the Board of Health shall report the violations to the Animal Control Appeals Board. Upon receipt of such report, the Animal Control Appeals Board shall notify the kennel license holder of such report and shall convene within seven business days of the receipt of the report to determine whether the license should be temporarily suspended or fines be imposed. Regardless of whether the license is temporarily suspended or fines imposed, the Animal Control Appeals Board shall, within ten business
days of receipt of such report, conduct a hearing at which the kennel license holder shall be permitted to defend against any suspension or imposition of fines. Any order of the Animal Control Appeals Board suspending a kennel license or imposing fines may be appealed to the Board of Selectmen. If the Board of Selectmen issues an order suspending or revoking a license or imposing fines, the kennel license holder may, within ten days after entry of such order, bring a petition in the local district court praying that such order be reviewed by the court.
28.2.6. Veterinary hospitals.
A veterinary hospital shall not be considered a kennel unless it contains an area for the selling of dogs, or for the boarding of dogs, for other than medical or surgical purposes, in which case it shall supply to the Town Clerk proof of obtaining a special permit from the Board of Appeals prior to the issuance of a kennel license.
28.2.7. Non-transferability of special permits.
No special permit issued by the Board of Appeals for the operation of a kennel shall be transferrable to a new kennel owner.
28.2.8. Petitions to revoke kennel licenses.
Any group of 25 residents over the age of 18 may file a revocation petition with the Town Clerk, who will forward it promptly to the Animal Control Appeals Board, when they are aggrieved or annoyed to an unreasonable extent by an existing kennel, due to conditions, including (but not limited to) excessive barking or unsanitary conditions at the kennel.
28.2.9. Kennel review hearings.
After receiving the Board of Health’s report or the resident’s petition, the Animal Control Appeals Board will notify all interested parties of a public hearing to be held within 14 days after the notice date.
(a) Within seven business days after the public hearing, the Animal Control Appeals Board shall recommend to the Board of Selectmen that it either dismiss the petition, revoke the kennel license, suspend the kennel license, or otherwise regulate the kennel.
(b) Any person maintaining a kennel after the kennel license has been denied, revoked, or suspended will be subject to the penalties provided in Article 28.4.
28.2.10. Annual renewal.
Each kennel licensee must renew the license annually, at the Town Clerk's Office. The annual licensing period runs from January 1 to December 31. Before the Town Clerk can renew the kennel license, the Board of Health must inspect the proposed kennel, file a report with the Town Clerk on the inspection, and favorably recommend in the report that the kennel meets all the requirements in Section 28.2.4
28.2.11. License due date.
The kennel licensing period shall be from January 1 through December 31, except that kennel licenses must be renewed by March 15 of each year.
28.2.12. Fees.
The fees for licensing each kennel are:
(a) Annual kennel license fee for four dogs: $50.
(b) Annual kennel license fee for 5-10 dogs: $75.
(c) Annual kennel license fee for 11 or more dogs: $150.
(d) Fee to replace lost dog tag: $2.
(e) Late fee: $25.
28.3. Animal Control Appeals Board
28.3.1. Composition of the Animal Control Appeals Board.
The Animal Control Appeals Board includes three Belmont residents, none of whom can be employees of the Town, appointed to three-year overlapping terms by the Board of Selectmen. The Board of Selectmen will also appoint an associate member, who cannot be an employee of the Town, to a three-year term. The associate member shall attend Appeals Board hearings but may vote only when a regular member is unavailable due to absence or conflicts of interest. Two of the four members must be dog owners.
28.3.2. Right to appeal.
When the Board of Health has investigated a complaint regarding a dog's behavior and has recommended to the Animal Control Appeals Board that an order of temporary restraint be issued, or has issued any other finding with which either the dog's keeper or the complainant disagrees, then either party may appeal by sending a written request to the Town Clerk within 10 business days after issuance of the Board of Health's decision. Following the Clerk's receipt of a written appeal, the Appeals Board shall hold a public hearing on the appeal within 10 business days, at which the dog owner, the complainant, and the Board of Health shall appear.
28.3.3. Findings and further appeals.
The Appeals Board shall vote at the public hearing on whether to uphold, reverse, or modify the Board of Health's decision and shall mail its ruling to the dog owner, complainant, and Board of Health within three business days after the public hearing. Should the dog owner or complainant disagree with the Appeals Board's ruling, then either party may appeal to the Board of Selectmen within 10 business days. The Board of Selectmen shall issue its ruling within 30 days thereafter.
28.3.4. Hearings on kennel petitions or vicious dogs.
The Appeals Board shall hold public hearings and make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen on any petition filed under §28.2.8.
28.4. Penalties for Violation.
Any dog keeper who maintains a kennel after the kennel license has been denied, suspended, or revoked, or who fails to obtain a kennel license shall be subject to the following penalties:
(a) First calendar day of violation of a subsection: written warning.
(b) Second calendar day of violation of the same subsection: $20.
(c) Third calendar day of violation of the same subsection: $50.
(d) Fourth and all subsequent calendar days of violations of the same subsection: $100.
28.5. Non-criminal disposition.
Penalties under Article 28 may be enforced by non-criminal disposition as provided in Chapter 40, Section 21D of the General Laws.
28.6. Incorporation of state law.
The provisions of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 140, Sections 136A through 156 and 158 through 174D, inclusive, as may be amended from time to time and except as modified herein, are hereby incorporated into this article.
28.7. Severability.
The invalidity of one or more sections, subsections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or provisions of this article shall not invalidate or impair any other part of this article nor invalidate the article as a whole.
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