Responsibilities

The Rio Dell Police Department is responsible for animal control, nuisance abatement, and general law enforcement services. 

Some general animal control information:

• The on-duty Police Officer serves as the Animal Control Officer. 
• If it's a non-emergency call involving an animal please make an effort to contact the police during normal business hours
• If you call regarding a barking dog we will typically provide the dog owner with a warning. If the problem persists please do no hesitate to recontact us. If we do not hear from you we will assume the warning was sufficient and the problem is no longer occurring
• Dogs are required to be maintained on your property unless they are leashed. It is unlawful to tie your dog to a fixed point for a prolonged period of time (three hours) and they must have access to food, water, and shelter. There are alternatives to tying your dog to a fixed point that are more humane to your dog. Alternatives include a dog run, a large area kennel, and/or a properly fenced yard.
•  It is unlawful to have more than three dogs if you reside within city limits. 
• We encourage dog owners to have their pets spayed or neutered. There are programs available for financial assistance and we are happy to assist residents in trying to locate that assistance

Some general information on Code Enforcement:

• The Police Department handles initial calls regarding nuisance abatement and complaints should be directed to this department
• The city has broken the city up into pre-designated areas and abatement proceedings initiated by the city rotate throughout the year based on those pre-designated areas. Additionally the city will handle specific complaints throughout the year regardless of whether they are in the pre-designated area the department is currently working on