8.08.020 Cruelty to Animals.
(A) It is unlawful for any person to willfully or maliciously kill, maim, disfigure or torture, strike, hit or beat with a stick, board, chain, club or other object; mutilate, burn or scald with any substance; drive over or otherwise set an animal upon another animal, except that reasonable force may be employed to drive off vicious or trespassing animals.
(B) It is unlawful for any person to drive or work any animal cruelly.
(C) It is unlawful for any person to fail, refuse or neglect to provide any animal in his charge or custody as owner or otherwise with proper food, drink, shade, care or shelter, or carry or leave any animal in or upon any vehicle in a cruel or inhumane manner. Any animal kept outside shall be provided with structurally sound weatherproof enclosure, large enough to accommodate the animal.
(D) It is unlawful for any person to abandon any animal within the City limits.
(E) It is unlawful for any person by any means to make accessible to any animal, with the intent to cause harm or death, any substance which has in any manner been treated or prepared with harmful or poisonous substances. It is not the intent of this subsection to prohibit the use of poisonous substances for the control of vermin of significance to the public health.
(F) It is unlawful for any person to permit any dog fight as defined in Olathe Municipal Code Section 9.14.020, cockfight, bullfight, or other combat between animals or between animals and humans.
(G) It shall be unlawful for any person except a licensed veterinarian to crop animal ears or dock animal tails.
(H) No person shall give away any live animal, fish, reptile, or bird as a prize for or as an inducement to enter a place of amusement; or offer such vertebrate as an incentive to enter into any business agreement whereby the offer was for the purpose of attracting trade.
(I) Any person who, as the operator or a motor vehicle, strikes a domestic animal shall stop at once and render such assistance as may be possible and shall immediately report such injury or death to the animal’s owner; in the event the owner cannot be ascertained and located, such operator shall at once report the accident to the appropriate law enforcement agency or to the local humane society.
(J) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to:
(1) Normal or accepted veterinary practices;
(2) Bona fide experiments carried on by commonly recognized research facilities under the Animal Welfare Act, but no experiment on animals shall inflict intense and prolonged pain or suffering or intense and frequently repeated pain and suffering on any animal;
(3) Killing, attempting to kill, trapping, catching or taking of any animal in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 32 or Chapter 47 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto;
(4) Rodeo practices accepted by the rodeo cowboys’ association;
(5) The humane killing of an animal that is diseased or disabled beyond recovery for any useful purpose by a licensed veterinarian at the request of the owner thereof, or by any officer or agent of an animal shelter, a local or state health officer or a licensed veterinarian three (3) business days following the receipt of any such animal at such shelter;
(6) With respect to farm animals, normal or accepted practices of animal husbandry including the normal and accepted practices for the slaughter of such animals for food or by-products and the careful or thrifty management of one’s herd or animals, including animal care practices common in the industry or region;
(7) The killing of any animal by any person at any time that may be found outside of the owned or rented property of the owner or custodian of such animal and that is found injuring or posing a threat to any person, farm animal or property;
(8) An animal control officer trained by a licensed veterinarian in the use of a tranquilizer gun, using such gun with the appropriate dosage for the size of the animal, when such animal is vicious or could not be captured after reasonable attempts using other methods;
(9) Laying an equine down for medical or identification purposes;
(10) Normal or accepted practices of pest control;
(11) Accepted practices of animal husbandry pursuant to regulations promulgated by the United States Department of Agriculture for domestic pet animals under the Animal Welfare Act, Public Law 89-544, as amended and in effect on July 1, 2006.
(K) If a person is adjudicated guilty of the crime of cruelty to animals, such animal will not be returned to or remain with such person. Such animal may be turned over to an animal shelter or licensed veterinarian for sale or other disposition.
(L) A violation of this Section is a class A public offense. (Ord. 19-59 § 2, 2019; Ord. 11-36 § 2, 2011; Ord. 10-31 § 7, 2010; Ord. 97-118 § 2, 1997; Ord. 87-173 § 2, 1987.)