One can be charged
with a crime for allowing their dog to become a Public Nuisance under
California Penal Codes sections 370 to 373a.
370. Anything which is
injurious to health, or is indecent, or offensive to the senses, or an
obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the
comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community or
neighborhood, or by any considerable number of persons, or unlawfully obstructs
the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable lake, or
river, bay, stream, canal, or basin, or any public park, square, street, or
highway, is a public nuisance.
371. An act which affects an
entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons, as
specified in the last section, is not less a nuisance because the extent of the
annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals is unequal.
372. Every person who
maintains or commits any public nuisance, the punishment for which is not
otherwise prescribed, or who willfully omits to perform any legal duty relating
to the removal of a public nuisance, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
373a. Every person who
maintains, permits, or allows a public nuisance to exist upon his or her
property or premises, and every person occupying or leasing the property or
premises of another who maintains, permits or allows a public nuisance to exist
thereon, after reasonable notice in writing from a health officer or district
attorney or city attorney or prosecuting attorney to remove, discontinue or
abate the same has been served upon such person, is guilty of a misdemeanor,
and shall be punished accordingly; and the existence of such nuisance for each
and every day after the service of such notice shall be deemed a separate and
distinct offense, and it is hereby made the duty of the district attorney, or
the city attorney of any city the charter of which imposes the duty upon the
city attorney to prosecute state misdemeanors, to prosecute all persons guilty
of violating this section by continuous prosecutions until the nuisance is
abated and removed.
PUBLIC
NUISANCE?
