§ 91.20. ANIMAL ABUSE PROHIBITED.

(B)   Subject to the following divisions that contain limitations and clarifications of the general prohibition found in this subsection, the tethering of one or more dogs as a method of keeping the dog(s) on the owner’s or owners’ property is unlawful:

(1)   The owner(s) may tether a dog or dogs for a reasonable period of time to allow for waste elimination;

(2)   The owner(s) may tether a dog or dogs on a runner for a reasonable period of time to allow the dog(s) to exercise;

(3)   The owner(s) may tether a dog or dogs during an emergency situation when such a situation is found by the animal control unit to have been caused by unique circumstances triggering an isolated occurrence as opposed to a repeat occurrence that provides evidence of a pattern of non-compliance with the city’s anti-tethering regulations; and

(4)   Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter and without exception, the tethering of a dog on a 24-hour a day basis is unlawful. For the sole and limited purpose of evaluating the validity of the assessment of a civil penalty pursuant to the provisions found in this chapter, the observation by an animal control officer of a tethered dog or dogs on the same property during the same approximate time of day (a variation in the time of day of no more than one hour shall be regarded as the same approximate time of day, e.g. observing a dog at 10:30 a.m. on one day and at 11:15 a.m. on the next day is considered to be the same approximate time of day) on consecutive calendar days shall be prima facie evidence that the observed dog(s) have been unlawfully tethered for 24 hours.