SOME DUTIES OF AN OWNER OR KEEPER OF ANIMALS IN NELSON MANDELA BAY

This week we venture further into the by-laws that impact the keeping of animals in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality’s boundaries. The comments are no legal advice, and you should always consult with the appropriate professional before taking any consequential decision.

As owners, future owners, or tenants of property in Nelson Mandela Bay, it is important to realize that the municipal by-laws prescribe certain rules that need to be complied with within the municipality’s jurisdiction. Please note that these are in addition to other laws and the common law; the provisions of community schemes (if applicable in your case) would apply. The duty is on you to understand your legal rights and duties, as ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

It should be noted by pet owners in the metro that the municipality specifically prescribes five express duties that they need to comply with.

Section 10 of the applicable by-law reads as follows:

“The owner or keeper of an animal – (a) may not cause or allow an animal to interfere with the comfort, convenience and peace of other people”

This provision appears to be extremely general in its application and can be seen almost as a general provision aimed at combatting disturbance or nuisance being perpetrated by animal owners and keepers upon other members of our metropolitan area, through their ownership or because they keep animals.

This provision covers both the situation where an owner or keeper actively causes the problem or where through omission, failure or neglect to take action to prevent such a problem.

Examples of this could be:

• A dog who is allowed to run free (off leash) other than on the owner or keeper’s premises (where they are contained).
• A boisterous dog which scares other residents, whether the owner/keeper believes they pose a threat or not.
• Allowing dogs/cats to cause another resident’s dogs to bark.?

The latter example can be particularly problematic at night, when apart from the disturbance and nuisance; it can cause anxiety due to levels of what a dog barking may mean.

“The owner or keeper of an animal – … (b) must provide such animal with shelter, water, and proper food;”

This by-law is straightforward. If you keep an animal in the metro, you need to make sure that they are properly cared for.

“The owner or keeper of an animal – … (c) must maintain the premises on which the animal is kept in good repair and in neat condition in order to prevent the occurrence of public nuisance;”

This provision is interesting in that the prescription relating to the property, in this instance has one stated purpose, that being to: “…prevent the occurrence of public nuisance”.

The owner/keeper needs to make sure that the premises are in good repair to prevent the occurrence of public nuisance. This would mean taking steps on your property to make sure that your animal cannot escape your property and cause a nuisance. In the process of doing so, the property must stay in a neat condition.

One could also imagine the example of a dog which is menacing and scares passersby by snapping through a gate that the owner would be expected to ensure that the dog neither causes an offence of this provision nor (a) above. This could mean amending the gate to protect passersby.

“The owner or keeper of an animal – … (d) must exercise control over his or her animals in order to prevent damage to property or gardens”

This provision is one that often gets residents hot under the collar for various reasons. It has become an all too familiar occurrence to have a herd of cattle meandering down suburban streets snacking on trees, manicured shrubs, and breaking plants as these browsing bovines are seldom the most agile of creatures. I heard a lady rant the other day that she planted three trees that have their growth points munched off by marauding bovine barbarians.

Another case that I heard of some time back was of a family who had another person’s cat enter their home, turn their lounge into the venue of a feline fight club, injure the owners’ cats (in their own home), mark its territory all over their lounge furniture, and rip the lounge curtains into tatters.

“The owner or keeper of an animal – … (e) may not leave or allow any animal to be in any section of a public road or leave such animal in a place from where it may stray onto such section of a public road.”

We all agree that no domesticated animal may trespass upon another resident’s property.

This provision particularly and explicitly prescribes the position regarding public spaces of municipal verges and roads. This by-law expressly prohibits any owner/keeper of an animal from allowing the animal to be in any section of a public road. It also prohibits leaving such an animal anywhere where it may stray onto a public road (such as the municipal verge).

A classic example of breaches of this provision could be:

Where an owner of a dog allows the dog to roam anywhere where it could wander into the road.

The owner of a cat (whether the cat sees that person as its owner or not) allows the cat to stray from their property and takes no effective steps to prevent it from being able to access the road.

I had a conversation with a lady who wished to buy property. She said that she lets her cats roam in the backyard. Given the latter part of this provision, leaving the cat in her backyard, from which it can easily access the public road, by jumping the wall, may very well render her guilty of the offence of leaving” …such an animal anywhere from where it may stray onto a public road’.

It is very important that owners/keepers of animals ensure that their animals do not stray into public roads as they pose a very real danger to road users and the animals themselves. It is not uncommon to turn into a road at night to be met by a bovine lying in the middle of the road or suddenly wandering into the path of oncoming traffic.

Let us not forget those fearless felines, with nine lives (or much less given their antics) who dart across the road, just as a car passes. We need to ensure that we all do our part to make sure our animals do not roam beyond our property and pose a threat to others and themselves. It is my understanding that a dog’s owner bears strict liability for the actions of the dog. If their dog causes damage to say a car, the owner will be responsible for the damage caused.

“10 (2) A person who contravenes a provision of subsection (1) commits and offence.”

This clause merely notes that there are offences for owners/keepers of animals who violate the rules above. These all seem to be around R1000.00 per offence.

As homeowners, lessors, lessees, or even just people keeping animals, we need to ensure that are aware of our duties and that we take the appropriate steps to ensure compliance. This will also go a long way to reducing the chances of conflict with the authorities and other residents.

My next post will look at some specific provisions relating to dogs and cats.