NEBRASKA STATUTES
CHAPTER 14. CITIES OF THE METROPOLITAN CLASS
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL POWERS
14-102. Additional powers.
In addition to the powers granted in section 14-101, cities of the metropolitan class shall have power by ordinance:
(10) To provide for the prevention of cruelty to children and animals;
(11) To regulate, license, or prohibit the running at large of dogs and other animals within the city as well as in areas within three miles of the corporate limits of the city, to guard against injuries or annoyance from such dogs and other animals, and to authorize the destruction of the dogs and other animals when running at large contrary to the provisions of any ordinance;
(16) To prohibit and regulate the running at large or the herding or driving of domestic animals, such as hogs, cattle, horses, sheep, goats, fowls, or animals of any kind or description within the corporate limits and provide for the impounding of all animals running at large, herded, or driven contrary to such prohibition; and to provide for the forfeiture and sale of animals impounded to pay the expense of taking up, caring for, and selling such impounded animals, including the cost of advertising and fees of officers;
CHAPTER 15. CITIES OF THE PRIMARY CLASS
ARTICLE 2. GENERAL POWERS
15-208. Signs and obstructions on streets and public property; traffic and safety regulations; powers.
A primary city shall have power to prevent and remove all encroachments on streets, avenues, alleys, and other city property; prevent and punish horseracing, fast driving or riding in the streets, highways, alleys, bridges or places in the city, and all games, practices or amusements therein likely to result in damage to any person or property; to regulate the riding, driving or passing along any street of the city, and to regulate, prevent and punish the riding, driving or passing of horses, mules, oxen, cattle or teams, or any vehicle drawn thereby over, upon or across sidewalks; to regulate and prevent the use of streets, sidewalks, and public grounds for signs, signposts, awnings, telegraph, telephone or other poles, racks, bulletin boards, and the posting of handbills and advertisements; to regulate traffic and sales upon the streets; to prohibit and punish cruelty to animals; to regulate and prevent the moving of buildings through or upon the streets.
16-210. Streets and sidewalks; use; safety regulations.
A city of the first class may prevent and remove all encroachments into and upon all sidewalks, streets, avenues, alleys, and other city property, and prevent and punish all horseracing, fast driving or riding in the streets, highways, alleys, bridges or places in the city, and all games, practices or amusements therein likely to result in damage to any person or property. It may regulate, prevent, and punish the operation of vehicles or the riding, driving or passing of animals over or upon any streets or sidewalks of the city; regulate and prevent the use of streets, sidewalks, and public grounds for signs, sign posts, awnings, telegraph, telephone or other poles, racks, bulletin boards, and the posting of handbills and advertisements; regulate traffic and sale upon the streets, sidewalks and public places; punish and prohibit cruelty to animals; and regulate and prevent the moving of buildings through or upon the streets.
CHAPTER 17. CITIES OF THE SECOND CLASS AND VILLAGES
ARTICLE 1. LAWS APPLICABLE ONLY TO CITIES OF THE SECOND CLASS
17-138. Animals; cruelty, prevention of.
A second-class city shall have power to prohibit and punish cruelty to animals.
CHAPTER 28. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
ARTICLE 10. OFFENSES AGAINST ANIMALS
28-1008. Terms, defined.
For purposes of sections 28-1008 to 28-1016:
(1) Abandon means to leave any animal for any length of time without making effective provision for its food, water, or other care as is reasonably necessary for the animal's health;
(2) Animal means any vertebrate member of the animal kingdom. The term does not include an uncaptured wild creature;
(3) Cruelly mistreat means to knowingly and intentionally kill, maim, disfigure, torture, beat, mutilate, burn, scald, or otherwise inflict harm upon any animal;
(4) Cruelly neglect means to fail to provide any animal in one's care, whether as owner or custodian, with food, water, or other care as is reasonably necessary for the animal's health;
(5) Humane killing means the destruction of an animal by a method which causes the animal a minimum of pain and suffering;
(6) Law enforcement officer means any member of the Nebraska State Patrol, any county or deputy sheriff, any member of the police force of any city or village, or any other public official authorized by a city or village to enforce state or local animal control laws, rules, regulations, or ordinances; and
(7) Police animal means a horse or dog owned or controlled by the State of Nebraska for the purpose of assisting a Nebraska state trooper in the performance of his or her official enforcement duties.
§ 28-1009. Cruelty to animals; harassment of a police animal; penalty.
(1) A person commits cruelty to animals if he or she abandons, cruelly mistreats, or cruelly neglects an animal. Cruelty to animals is a Class II misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class I misdemeanor for any subsequent offense.
(2) A person commits harassment of a police animal if he or she knowingly and intentionally teases or harasses a police animal in order to distract, agitate, or harm the police animal for the purpose of preventing such animal from performing its legitimate official duties. Harassment of a police animal is a Class IV misdemeanor unless the harassment is the proximate cause of the death of the police animal, in which case it is a Class IV felony.
28-1011. Violations; liability for expenses.
Any person who violates section 28-1009 or 28-1010 shall be liable for all expenses incurred by a governmental subdivision in conjunction with the care, impoundment, or disposal of an animal. The expenses shall be a lien upon the animal.
28-1013. Sections; exemptions.
Sections 28-1008 to 28-1016 shall not apply to:
(1) Care or treatment of an animal by a veterinarian licensed under the Nebraska Veterinary Practice Act;
(2) Commonly accepted care or treatment of a police animal by a law enforcement officer in the normal course of his or her duties;
(3) Research activity carried on by any research facility currently meeting the standards of the federal Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.;
(4) Commonly accepted practices of hunting, fishing, or trapping;
(5) Commonly accepted practices occurring in conjunction with rodeos, animal racing, or pulling contests;
(6) Humane killing of an animal by the owner or by his or her agent or a veterinarian upon the owner's request;
(7) Commonly accepted practices of animal husbandry with respect to farm animals, including their transport from one location to another and nonnegligent actions taken by personnel or agents of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture or the United States Department of Agriculture in the performance of duties prescribed by law;
(8) Use of reasonable force against an animal, other than a police animal, which is working, including killing, capture, or restraint, if the animal is outside the owned or rented property of its owner or custodian and is injuring or posing an immediate threat to any person or other animal;
(9) Killing of house or garden pests;
(10) Commonly followed practices occurring in conjunction with the slaughter of animals for food or byproducts; and
(11) Commonly accepted animal training practices.
28-1014. Local regulation; authorized.
Any city, village, or county may adopt and promulgate rules, regulations, and ordinances which are not inconsistent with the provisions of sections 28-1008 to 28-1016 for the protection of the public, public health, and animals within its jurisdiction.
§ 28-1015. Ownership by child; applicability of penalties.
When an animal is owned by a minor child, the parent of such minor child with whom the child resides or legal guardian with whom the child resides shall be subject to the penalties provided under sections 28-1008 to 28-1016 if the animal is abandoned or cruelly neglected.
28-1016. Game and Parks Commission; Game Law; sections, how construed.
Nothing in sections 28-1008 to 28-1016 shall be construed as amending or changing the authority of the Game and Parks Commission as established in the Game Law or to prohibit any conduct authorized or permitted by such law.
