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?
