On January 12, 2021, after receiving public comment from a resident requesting the City of Rocklin adopt ordinances related to off-leash dogs and pet waste, and to increase a municipal fine amount, the City Council directed staff to look into municipal ordinances from locations in the region on similar issues.
The first ordinance requested would require persons in control of animals to pick up their animal waste and sanitarily dispose of it. Staff has conducted research and presents the following: the Rocklin Municipal Code (RMC) does not have a requirement for the owner of an animal to pick up the feces of an animal and properly dispose of it in a sanitary way. The following county and municipal governments generally have an ordinance that requires the person in control of the animal to properly dispose of fecal matter in a sanitary way:
Placer County:
Placer County Code requires in part, while in a public recreation area, Dog feces must be cleaned up and properly disposed into a trash receptacle. (Placer Code 12.24.020)
City of Auburn:
The City of Auburn has a Municipal Code section that in part makes it “unlawful for any owner of any equine or canine to fail to immediately remove, and dispose of in a sanitary manner, any waste deposited by the animal(s) upon public property, or upon private property not owned or controlled by the person. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a blind person assisted by a guide dog.” (AMC 97.026)
City of Lincoln:
The City of Lincoln Municipal Code in part states “It is unlawful for any person owning or having control or custody of any dog to permit the animal to defecate upon the public property of this city or upon the private property of another unless the person immediately removes the feces and properly disposes of it. A suitable container or other suitable instrument for the removal and disposal of the dog feces must be carried at all times. Handicapped persons who use seeing-eye dogs are exempt from this section. (LMC 12.20.080)
Town of Loomis:
The Town of Looms has a Municipal Code section that in part makes “It is unlawful for the owner or person having the custody of any dog to fail to immediately remove and dispose of any feces deposited by such dog upon public property. (LMC 160.4.060)
City of Roseville:
The City of Roseville has a Municipal Code section that requires, in part, the immediate pick up and removal of dog feces from public property. The person in charge of the dog “shall have in his or her possession a suitable wrapper, bag or container for the purpose of complying with the requirements of this section. In addition, this section includes the removal of accumulated feces on private property that may cause a nuisance. (Roseville MC 7.14.010)
The second resident request is for the fine for walking a dog off leash be increased to $500 from its current statutory amount, to send a message to the violator. The City of Rocklin currently has an at large animal ordinance that in part requires animals, when off the owners private property, to be on “a leash or tether under the control of a person physically capable of retaining control of the animal” (RMC 6.12.020). This law is enforced across our community subject to the availability of staff for enforcement. When enforcing this code, violators can expect anything from a verbal warning to a citation with the fine, currently $100 for a first offense. The Rocklin Municipal Code, Section 1.14.024 sets administrative penalties for Code violations.
The last ordinance addition requested by the resident would require a person walking a dog to yield to another person walking on the same sidewalk. In yielding the passage, the person walking the dog would be required to exit the sidewalk and enter on to the street while passing another person on the sidewalk. Staff looked at county and municipal codes throughout the region and was unable to locate any code that required this type of movement. In analyzing this type of regulation, staff looked at the danger posed by requiring a person walking a dog to leave the sidewalk and enter into the street when passing another person walking on a sidewalk.
Staff believes that this type of movement could be extremely dangerous to the dog and the person in control of the dog by forcing them, by law, off of the sidewalk and in to the street to compete with parked vehicles, bicycles and or moving vehicles already occupying that space. Enforcement of this type of activity would require that the actual violation be observed by the officer or by a victim/witness requesting a private person arrest based upon information and belief that an unlawful act occurred. Therefore, staff does not recommend an ordinance that would require this type of mandated movement.