FIVE FACTS ABOUT PET OWNERSHIP IN NEVADA
Estimated Reading Time: 8.9minutes
1) If you live in Henderson, North Las Vegas, or the City of Las Vegas, you are required to have a license for your pet. If you live in Clark County and are not part of the cities, you are not required to have a license.
2) You are required to vaccinate your pet against rabies by the age of four months and every three years thereafter.
3) You are required to spay or neuter your pet unless you have a license to breed the animal.
4) You are required to pick up your dog’s waste.
5) It is illegal to feed or provide food for pigeons.
Every local jurisdiction has what are called municipal codes or city ordinances. These are bodies of law that are written by the individual cities and towns and counties concerning matters of local importance. Although many of the city ordinances are similar in different cities or to the county, there are instances where there are differences. City ordinances are usually easy to read and short, unlike the state statutes and often difficult to understand. Although this ordinance is different for the county than it is the cities, many ordinances are very similar. For example each municipality requires you to pick up waste after your pet and all have some version of a barking statute. To easily locate city ordinances for any city in the country for any topic, follow this link https://library.municode.com/ Ordinances for Clark County and the cities contained therein can be found at the following links:
For the city of Henderson, the codes can be found at :
https://library.municode.com/nv/henderson/codes/code_of_ordinances
For the city of Las Vegas, the codes can be found at :
https://library.municode.com/nv/las_vegas/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT7AN
For the city of North Las Vegas, the codes can be found at :
https://library.municode.com/nv/north_las_vegas/codes/code_of_ordinances
For the Clark County, the codes can be found at :
https://library.municode.com/nv/clark_county/codes/code_of_ordinances
GENERAL RULES FOR PET OWNERSHIP
Pet Licenses
For example, if you live in the city of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas or Henderson, you are required to have a license for your pet through the city. That is a license that you would obtain at the local city office and renew every year. They are generally not very expensive. However, a note of caution, I found out that you needed a license when a not so kind neighbor called in our small dog as being loose when she got out of the yard. Animal control came immediately and picked up our little white dog and took her away in their truck. When I went to retrieve her I was fined $75 by the city of Henderson for not having a pet license. Who knew??? I guess as an attorney I should have investigated that fact. That is really the most important reason to have the pet license to avoid fines. It’s generally a couple of dollars a year to renew and around $10-$30 to obtain a license. For example, the city of Las Vegas charges $25 for an unaltered pet and $10 for a pet that is spayed or neutered. There are usually special discounts for service dogs and seniors or military personnel. When you register your pet, you will generally need to bring in proof of current rabies vaccinations. You can obtain that from your veterinarian.
PET WASTE
It is required for all pet owners in the City of Las Vegas, the City of Henderson, the City of North Las Vegas and in Clark County to pick up their pets waste. The county ordinance states as follows:
10.36.020 – Solid Waste Excretion.
It is unlawful for the owner or person having custody of any animal to permit, either willfully or through failure to exercise due care or control of such animal, any animal to excrete any solid waste upon any sidewalk of any public street or public park, or to excrete any solid waste upon any real property under the control of or in the possession of any other person, or upon the floor of any common area in any apartment house, tenement house, hotel or other multiple dwelling, or upon any entranceway, stairway or wall immediately abutting on a public sidewalk, or upon the floor of any theater, shop, store, office building or other building used in common by the public, or upon the floor, elevator or stairway of any depot or station or public waiting room, or upon any floor, elevator, stairway, entranceway, office, lobby, foyer or patio used in common by the public; provided further, that no violation of this section shall occur if the owner of the offending animal promptly and voluntarily removes the animal waste.
The City of Las Vegas Ordinance states as follows:
It is unlawful for any person owning or having custody or care of any animal to allow the animal to excrete any solid waste upon any public property, upon any real property owned by or leased by another person or upon any common area of an apartment or similar complex; provided, however, that no violation of this Section shall occur if the owner or other person having custody or care of the animal promptly and voluntarily removes the waste.
(Ord. No. 6180, § 7, 3-7-12; Ord. 3618 § 154, 1991)
BARKING
It is required for all pet owners in the city of Las Vegas, the city of Henderson,
the city of North Las Vegas and in Clark County to keep their pets barking to a minimum.
The county ordinance states as follows:
10.36.010 – Noise annoyance.
No person shall own, keep, harbor or possess any animal which, by loud or frequent habitual barking,
yelping, braying, crowing or other noise, causes annoyance to the neighborhood or to
any person in the vicinity.
(Ord. 1023 § 10 (part), 1987) (Ord. No. 3877, § 11, 6-15-2010)
LEASH LAWS
It is required for all pet owners in the City of Las Vegas, the City of Henderson, the City of North Las Vegas and in Clark County to keep their dog on a leash. The county ordinance states as follows:
10.36.040 – Restraint and sanitation.
(a) No person owning or having possession of any animal other than a cat, shall cause, permit or allow the animal to stray, run or in any manner be at large.
(b) Every person who is the owner of any unsterilized dog or cat as permitted by Chapter 10.08, and keeps the same upon his premises under his control, shall keep the animal restrained by a fence, cage, coop, chain, leash or other adequate means so that the unsterilized dog or cat shall not leave or escape from the premises upon which it shall be kept.
CHICKENS
An interesting and random fact, which is the fun part of blogging, is that it is required for all chicken owners in the City of Las Vegas, the City of Henderson, the City of North Las Vegas and in Clark County to keep their chickens contained. The county ordinance states as follows:
10.36.030 – Poultry and birds. — It is unlawful for any person to keep, or cause to be kept, on premises over which any such person may have control within the county:
(a)Any poultry or birds that are not, at all times, confined within a suitable outbuilding, coop, or enclosed runway; however, a keeper of racing or homing pigeons may permit the same to be exercised in free flight for not more than one hour daily; provided, that all other times such pigeons are confined appropriately;
(b)Poultry kept within any dwelling house, basement, subbasement, or cellar.
(Ord. 1023 § 10 (part), 1987)
PIGEONS
Another interesting and random fact is that it is illegal to feed the pigeons in the City of Las Vegas, the City of Henderson, the City of North Las Vegas and in Clark County, The county ordinance states as follows:
10.36.035 – Pigeon control.
(a) The roosting or lingering of wild pigeons poses a health and property hazard in addition to offending the aesthetic senses by pigeon contamination. Such roosting or lingering of wild pigeons is declared to be a public nuisance.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to encourage the lingering, roosting and/or congregating of wild pigeons by providing food—including but not limited to, grain seeds, greens, bread crumbs and miscellaneous food scraps—intended for wild pigeon ingestion on public or residential property.
(Ord. No. 4539, § 1, 11-7-2017)
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