Abandon means the leaving of an animal without adequate provisions for the animal's proper care by its owner, the person responsible for the animal's care or custody or any other person having possession of such animal.

Aggressive animal means an animal, whether under the control of the owner or not, except a dog assisting a law enforcement officer engaged in law enforcement duties, which without provocation or justification approaches any person or other animal in an apparent attitude of attack. An animal that is on its owner's property that acts aggressively at a fence or barrier but does not leave the owner's property shall not be deemed to be an aggressive animal.

Animal means a living organism other than a plant or bacterium. "Animal" in this Code includes arthropods, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. As used in this Code, the term "animal" excludes humans.

Animal grooming service means any place or establishment where animals are kept less than 24 hours to be clipped, combed, or otherwise groomed for compensation for the purpose of enhancing their appearance, aesthetic value, or health.

Animal protection officer means any person assigned with the responsibility, power, and duty by the city to enforce this chapter.

Animal rescue means any firm, person, or corporation that accepts pet animals for the purpose of finding permanent adoptive homes for these animals and does not maintain a central facility for keeping animals.

Animal shelter means any premises designated by the city manager for the humane boarding and caring for any animal impounded under this chapter or any other ordinance or laws of the state.

Aurora animal services division manager means the manager of the Aurora animal services division of the city of Aurora, Colorado, or such other person designated by the city and the term shall also include such person's designee.

Bite(s) means any contact between an animal's teeth and the skin of a human which causes a puncture wound, laceration, or other piercing of the skin.

Boarding, for purposes of the definition of kennel in Chapter 146, means any individual, firm, company, partnership, corporation or other association that cares for, houses, or handles household pets for any form of consideration in lieu of the household pet's owner.

Cat means any member of the felidae family including the domestic cat, lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, cougar, wildcat, lynx and cheetah and any member of the feline family regardless of sex.

Community cat means any unowned, feral or free-roaming cat that may live in a community cat colony that is unfit for a home environment, that is equipped to thrive in an outdoor environment with little or no human intervention.

Community cat caretaker means a person registered with the city to assist in the management and control of a colony of community cats, who provides food, water and/or other care for one or more community cats, but who does not own, harbor, keep or have custody, control, or charge of such community cat.

Community cat colony means a group of community cats that live and congregate together.

Convicted or conviction means a verdict of guilty by a judge or jury, or plea of guilty, nolo contendere or no contest, to violating any law that is accepted by the court.

Dangerous animal means any animal, whether under the control of the owner or not, except a dog assisting a law enforcement officer engaged in law enforcement activities, that:

Dog means any member of canis familiaris occurring as a wide variety of breeds, many of which are traditionally used for hunting, herding, performing work and other tasks, and are commonly kept as domesticated pets.

Domesticated means any animal customarily adapted so as to commonly live safely within the community.

Ear-tipped means removing approximately a quarter inch off the tip of a cat's left ear while the cat is anesthetized for spaying or neutering.

Exotic means a nonnative animal or nondomestic hybrid animal.

Household pet means any domesticated animal commonly kept in the primary residence. Household pets include dogs, domestic cats, domestic caged birds, canaries, parrots, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs and similar rodents, fish, and reptiles so long as such animals are not kept to supplement food supplies or for any commercial purpose whatsoever. "Household pet" does not include livestock or potbellied pigs or other expressly prohibited animals.

Hybrid means any offspring of two animals of different species.

Intact means any animal upon which no alternative surgery of the reproductive organs or other sterilization procedure has been performed.

Kennel means any part of a structure or premises used for the keeping of any animal for the purpose of adoption, boarding, breeding, grooming, handling, selling, sheltering, trading, or otherwise transferring any such animal for compensation or for profit. "Kennel" does not mean a common carrier engaged in intrastate or interstate commerce.

Livestock means any domesticated animal, including but not limited to horses, donkeys, burros, llamas, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, peacocks, turkeys, chickens, pigeons, ducks, geese, ratite or other poultry or fowl or mink. "Livestock" also includes any noncompanion animal kept for commercial purposes.

Microchip means an electronic transponder or radio-frequency identification tag, or chip intended for the subcutaneous insertion into an animal for the use of identification.

Motor vehicle means any motor vehicle, including but not limited to the open bed of a truck, a convertible vehicle with the top down or removed, the rear storage portion of a station wagon with the tailgate open and the trunk or hatchback portion of any vehicle with trunk or hatchback open.

Owner means an owner, caretaker, handler, keeper, sitter, custodian or any person, other than a community cat caregiver, in possession of, harboring, keeping or having custody and control of any animal to which the section in which the word appears is applicable. Ownership of any animal shall not be a justifiable defense for a violation of any section of this chapter.

PACFA means the Pet Animal Care Facilities Act, C.R.S. § 35-80-101 et seq. PACFA is a licensing and inspection program dedicated to protecting the health and well-being of those animals in pet care facilities throughout Colorado.

Pet shop means any business engaged in buying, selling, trading, or bartering for resale or wholesale pet animals to consumers, brokers, commissioned merchants, or any middleman.

Potentially dangerous animal means any animal, except a dog assisting a law enforcement officer engaged in law enforcement duties, that:

Proper enclosure means a structure which:

Provocation means any action or activity, whether intentional or unintentional, which would be reasonably expected to cause a normal animal in similar circumstances to react in a manner similar to that shown by the evidence.

Ratite means a subordinal group of birds with small or rudimentary wings and no keel to the breastbone that are nonetheless descended from birds with the power of flight, including ostriches, rheas, cassowaries and emus, elephant birds, moas and kiwis.

Release means the return to the owner, adoption, sale, or other transfer of the permanent custody of an animal by the Aurora animal shelter.

Rescue organization means an organization licensed by PACFA who accepts pet animals for the purpose of finding permanent adoptive homes for animals, who may or may not maintain a facility for keeping animals but uses a system of fostering in private homes or boarding or keeping pets in licensed pet animal facilities.

Restitution means any court-ordered payment to the victim for actual damages or losses suffered by a victim by a defendant convicted of a crime under this chapter. Restitution also includes the fees, costs or expenses, whether or not ordered by the court, that were incurred by the animal services division to care for or impound an animal, or for any products or services provided by the animal services division for an animal, including, but not limited to, impound fees, boarding fees, vaccination fees, microchip fees, veterinary charges, and DNA test fees. Such restitution shall be ordered by the court as a condition of a sentence.

Return to field means to return a community cat to the place where trapped or the vicinity of the place where trapped.

Service animal means any guide dog, signal dog, or dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.

Serious physical injury (as also defined in C.R.S. § 18-1-901 (2018), as amended) means bodily injury which, either at the time of the actual injury or at a later time, involves a substantial risk of death, a substantial risk of serious permanent disfigurement, a substantial risk of protracted loss or impairment of the function of any part or organ of the body, or breaks, fractures.

Sex act means any person who performs, or who aids, abets, promotes, facilitates, or encourages another person to perform, any act of sexual intercourse, fellatio, cunnilingus, masturbation, anal intercourse or anilingus, as defined in chapter 94, article V of the City Code, on or with any animal.

Shelter-neuter-return (SNR) means a program whereby a community cat is humanely trapped, spayed, or neutered, implanted with a microchip, vaccinated against rabies, ear-tipped and returned to field.

SNR organization means an organization registered with the Aurora animal services division who provides food, water and/or other care for one or more community cats, but who does not own, harbor, keep or have custody, control, or charge of such community cat and who is participating in a SNR program.

Spay or neuter means any animal upon which any sterilization procedure has been performed by a licensed veterinarian and accompanied by a certificate asserting such operation or other procedure has been performed. (Code 1979, § 7-1; Ord. No. 2020-55, § 1, 11-2-2020; Ord. No. 2004-52, § 1, 8-23-2004; Ord. No. 2002-70, § 1, 11-18-2002; Ord. No. 97-51, § 1, 10-13-1997)