[Adopted 1-21-2000 by Ord. No. 340 (Ch. 106, Art. VI, of the 1992 Code)]
The Town Council has found and determined that the keeping of wild, exotic and/or farm animals (including bees) within the Town of Bethany Beach is detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens and property owners of the Town of Bethany Beach and constitutes a public nuisance because such animals are not suited to the close residential confines of the Town and are likely to:
A. 
Cause undesirable odors on abutting and nearby properties and public ways.
B. 
Contaminate such properties and nearby properties and public ways with urine and/or excrement.
C. 
Cause unreasonable noise and disturbances to abutting and nearby properties and public ways.
D. 
Create a significant roadway hazard and/or damage to or destruction of landscaping and vegetation or if unrestrained or allowed to escape any restraint.
E. 
Require the assistance, at the Town's expense, of police and/or animal control officers, to recapture such animals if unrestrained or allowed to escape.
F. 
Cause an increased and unreasonable risk to the public health and safety by running amok and/or attacking persons and/or other domestic animals if unrestrained or allowed to escape.
G. 
Cause an increased and unreasonable risk of spreading infectious diseases and/or creating unhealthy conditions.
H. 
Receive inappropriate or inhumane care due to the unsuitable environment that the close residential confines of the Town create for such animals.
It is therefore declared to be the purpose of and intent of this article to promote the public health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the Town of Bethany Beach and to ensure the humane treatment of animals by prohibiting the keeping of wild, exotic and/or farm animals, as herein defined, within the Town of Bethany Beach.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
EXOTIC ANIMAL
Any live monkey, alligator, crocodile, cayman, raccoon, skunk, fox, bear, sea mammal, potentially dangerous snake, member of the feline species other than domestic cat (felis domesticus), member of the canine species other than domestic dog (canis familiaris) or any other animal that would require a standard of care and control greater than that required for customary household pets sold by commercial pet shops.
FARM ANIMAL
Any cow, horse, mule, donkey, sheep, goat, swine, fowl, duck, goose or turkey; and bees.
WILD ANIMAL
Any live monkey, nonhuman primate, raccoon, skunk, fox, leopard, panther, tiger, lion, lynx or any other warm-blooded animal that can normally be found in the wild state. The term "wild animal" does not include domestic dogs (excluding hybrids with wolves, coyotes or jackals), domestic cats (excluding hybrids with ocelots or margays), farm animals, rodents indigenous to the United States, any hybrid animal that is part wild and captive-bred species of common cage birds.
A. 
Any person may apply, in writing, to the Town Manager for permission to keep an animal otherwise prohibited by this article in the Town.
B. 
Upon receipt of such application, the Town Manager shall convene a review panel, on an ad hoc basis, consisting of the Town Manager (or a designee from within the Town Manager's office), the Chief of Police (or the Chief's designee from within the Police Department) and one private citizen permanently residing within the Town, to hear and decide the request for exemption from this article.
C. 
The Town Manager shall schedule a public hearing to be held not less than three days after receipt of the request and shall provide notice of the date, time, place and purpose of such hearing by posting in five public places in the Town (as well as on the subject property) and by delivery by hand or United States mail to the residents or property owners of lands abutting the subject property. Where time permits, such notice shall also be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town.
D. 
At such hearing, the burden shall be upon the applicant to establish to the satisfaction of a majority of the panel that the animal does not and will not constitute a nuisance or a threat to the public health, safety or welfare of the Town. Strict rules of evidence shall not apply at such hearing, but the panel may accept any relevant evidence of probative value which reasonable persons might consider in making important decisions in their own private affairs.
E. 
The panel shall issue a brief written decision within two days of the hearing, which decision may grant, deny or grant with specified conditions permission to keep such animal.
F. 
The decision of the panel shall be final. Any person thereafter keeping an animal in violation of the panel's decision, or in violation of any conditions imposed by the panel, may be prosecuted for a violation of this article under § 240-27 above.
G. 
Anything in this article to the contrary notwithstanding, any permission granted under this section may be subsequently revoked or modified by a subsequent panel called by the Town Manager upon a showing that such animal did constitute a nuisance or threat to the public health, safety or welfare or that the conditions of such permission were violated.
[Amended 2-17-2006 by Ord. No. 407]
Any person convicted of violating this article pay such fines as set out in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article I, Penalties. Each day of a continuing violation shall constitute a separate offense.