A. Vaccination Required: The owner of a domesticated animal shall have the domesticated animal vaccinated against rabies within thirty (30) days after the domesticated animal reaches three (3) months of age. If the owner acquires the domesticated animal, or brings the domesticated animal into the Metropolitan Animal Control Facility after the domesticated animal reaches three (3) months of age, the owner shall have the domesticated animal vaccinated against rabies within thirty (30) days after acquisition or import of the animal into the Metropolitan Animal Control Facility, unless the domesticated animal has been vaccinated as evidenced by a current certificate of rabies vaccination from this state or another state. The owner of a domesticated animal shall have the domesticated animal revaccinated against rabies by a veterinarian before the date the immunization expires, as stated on the certificate of vaccination, or, if no date is specified, within one year after the previous vaccination. The owner shall pay the cost of the rabies vaccination.
B. Suspicion Of Rabies, Quarantine:
1. Quarantine Order: A law enforcement officer, an animal control officer, or a county health officer or his designee, may order a domesticated animal quarantined if the officer has reason to believe the animal bit a person, is infected with rabies or has been in contact with a rabid animal. If a quarantine cannot be imposed because a domesticated animal cannot be captured, the officer may kill the animal. The officer shall attempt to kill the animal in a humane manner and in a manner which avoids damage to the animal's head. After the animal is dead, the head is to be severed from the body and sent to the state laboratory for examination.
2. Time Limit: An officer who orders a domesticated animal to be quarantined shall deliver the animal, or shall order the animal delivered, to an isolation facility as soon as possible, but no longer than twenty four (24) hours after the original order is issued.
3. Isolation/Observation Period: The custodian of an isolation facility shall keep the quarantined domesticated animal in strict isolation under the supervision of a veterinarian. If the observation period is not extended, and if the veterinarian certifies that the domesticated animal has not exhibited any symptoms of rabies, the animal may be released from quarantine at the end of a ten (10) day observation period.
4. Symptoms Evident; Notification: If the veterinarian determines that a domesticated animal exhibits symptoms of rabies during the original or extended observation period, the veterinarian shall notify the county health department and the officer who ordered the animal quarantined, and the officer or veterinarian shall humanely kill the animal. If the domesticated animal has bitten a person, the county health department shall notify the person's physician.
5. Costs Incurred; Responsibility: The owner of an animal is responsible for any expenses incurred in connection with keeping the animal in an isolation facility, supervision and examination of the animal by a veterinarian, preparation of the carcass for laboratory examination and the fee for the laboratory examination. If the owner is unknown, MAC is responsible for these expenses.
6. Police Canine Exclusions; Exemptions: Police canines working on duty with law enforcement personnel are exempt from rabies quarantine and cannot be deemed vicious.
C. Animal Bites: Any person having knowledge that an animal has bitten a human shall immediately report that incident to the animal control officer or the county health officer, together with the name and address of the person or persons bitten, if known.
D. Failure To Comply, Penalties:
1. It shall be unlawful for an owner of a domesticated animal to refuse to have its animal vaccinated as required by this chapter. If the owner is convicted of violating this provision, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not less than twenty five dollars ($25.00), nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00).
2. It shall be unlawful for an owner to refuse to comply with an order issued under this section to deliver an animal to an officer, isolation facility or veterinarian, or to comply with the conditions of an order that an animal be quarantined. If the owner is convicted of violating this provision, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00), nor more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00). (Ord. 99-04, 11-16-1999)