The Chehalis City Council made changes to the city’s animal control and nuisance codes Monday night, adding laws for barking dogs, for leaving animals in vehicles and allowing officers to enter private property to address an animal violation if the owner is unable to be contacted.
Chehalis Police Chief Glenn Schaffer said the changes stem from the Washington State Supreme Court ruling on June 3 that criminal offenses can no longer be resolved by bail forfeiture and now require a mandatory court appearance.
The state’s Supreme Court gave the city of Chehalis until July 1 to update the animal control and nuisance ordinances because the first offense in both was punishable by fine only.
Now, any criminal animal control or nuisance offense will include the potential for 30 days in jail, Schaffer said.
While updating the animal control and nuisance ordinances, the city went through the books to reconsider what merits a criminal charge in each ordinance.
Changes to the animal control ordinance include adding paragraphs on animal abandonment, keeping animals in vehicles, animals causing injury to other animals or humans, continual dog barking and officers entering onto private property for an animal violation if owner is unavailable.
Changes to the nuisance ordinance include deleting paragraphs on the sale and manufacture of intoxicating liquor, gambling and noise because they are covered under other ordinances.
Also, a new paragraph was added to reflect a 12-hour time limit for maintenance of vehicles on the roadway rather than the previous 2-hour time limit.
