Agenda - 10-01-2013 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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17 should be an appeal process for vicious animals and proposed that it should be in the Ordinance. (See 111.3. above) b. Dangerous and Vicious Dog Declaration. North Carolina General Statute §67 -4.5 authorizes local governments to enact laws in addition to the ones found in the North Carolina General Statues. Neither the "vicious dog" declaration under the county ordinance nor the "dangerous" or "potentially dangerous" dog declarations under state law are new. The vicious dog designation is a part of the County Ordinance and a part of the Chapel Hill Ordinance. The added language in the Unified Ordinance incorporates language from the Chapel Hill and Carrboro Ordinances. (See Section 111.7 above) c. Trespass definition puts the onus on the property owner to prove the intruder came onto the property with criminal intent. The current definition of "vicious animal" ( §4 -37) in the County Ordinance provides the following: "Any animal on or off the premises of its owner or keeper, security dog excluded, which animal is three months of age or older and without provocation has bitten, or killed, or caused physical harm through bites to people (a person) who are (is) not trespassing and or has bitten or killed an animal(s) that is (are) not where its (their) owner(s) has (have) been told such animal(s) cannot be. Any dog that is owned or harbored for the purpose of dog fighting or training for dog fighting is also defined as a vicious animal." §4 -37 (emphasis added) Neither the County nor Towns Ordinances currently define the term "trespass." The North 5 Carolina General Statutes lists a variety of types of trespasses based on whether the nature of the act is either civil or criminal. One of the many definitions of "trespasser" in Black's Law Dictionary (91h ed. 2009), is "one who intentionally and without consent or privilege enters another's property." Because the definition of trespass is open to many definitions, the definition of a trespasser in Black's Law is followed by an admonition: "The word 'trespasser' has an ugly sound, but it covers the wicked and the innocent. The burglar and the arrogant squatter are trespassers, but so are all sorts of comparatively innocent and respectable persons such as a walker in the countryside who unhindered strolls across an open field. Perhaps much of the trouble in this area has arisen from 'the simplistic stereotype' of the definition. The courts are therefore beginning to recognize that the duty of the occupier may vary according to the nature of the trespasser." R.F.V. Heuston, Salmond on the Law of Torts 278 (17th ed. 1977). TRESPASSER, Black's Law Dictionary (9th ed. 2009), trespasser Recognizing the definition of the word "trespasser" may be open to interpretation, language consistent with the N.C. Gen. Stat. § 67 -4.1 (Dangerous Dog Statute) and Carrboro Ordinance was added to the Unified Ordinance. This language provides for an exception in the Unified Ordinance for dogs that bite persons considered trespassers. The following exception appears in the Unified Ordinance: 5