(A) Any person having knowledge that an animal has bitten a human shall immediately report the incident to the Local Health Authority. Every physician or other medical practitioner who treats a person or persons for such bites shall, within 12 hours, report such treatment to the Local Health Authority or his agent, giving name, age, sex and precise location of the bitten person or persons and such other information as the Local Health Authority may require.
(B) Humans bitten by birds and reptiles are excluded from the reporting requirements of this section.
(C) Any veterinarian who clinically diagnoses rabies or any person who suspects rabies in a dog, cat or other domestic or wild animals shall immediately report that incident to the City Animal Control Officer, or his agent, stating precisely where such animal may be found. If a known or suspected rabid animal bites or attacks a domestic animal, such incident shall also be reported as required above.
(D) Any dog or cat which has bitten a person shall be observed for a period of ten days from the date of the bite. The procedure and place of observation shall be designated by the City Animal Control Officer. If the dog or cat is not allowed an at-home quarantine, confinement shall be by impoundment in the City Animal Shelter, or at any veterinary hospital of the owner's choice. Such confinement shall be at the expense of the owner. Stray dogs or cats whose owners cannot be located shall be confined in the City Animal Shelter or another veterinary hospital. The owner of any dog or cat that has been reported to have inflicted a bite on any person or animals, or to have been exposed to rabies, shall on demand produce said dog or cat for impoundment, as prescribed in this section. Refusal to produce said dog or cat constitutes a violation of this section, and each day of such refusal shall constitute a separate and individual violation. At no time shall a dog or cat be allowed an at-home quarantine if it is in violation of any provision of this chapter.
(E) When an animal bites or scratches a person under conditions presenting a substantial probability that the animal was infected with rabies, the City Animal Control Officer may, upon his finding that the quarantine period should not be observed because of the danger of developing rabies, order the immediate destruction of the animal and cause its head to be forwarded to the State Department of Health Resources for pathological testing.
(F) Violation of animal quarantine requirement. It shall be unlawful for any person to fail or refuse to quarantine or present for quarantine any animal which is required or ordered to be quarantined pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(G) It shall be unlawful for any person to remove from any place of confinement any animal which has been confined as authorized, without the consent of the City Animal Control Officer.
(H) In addition to citation for violation of the preceding subpart, the City Animal Control Officer is hereby authorized to pursue, in conjunction with the City Attorney, such civil remedies as he deems appropriate to achieve compliance with the foregoing impoundment and quarantine requirements.
(I) Procedures concerning bites from other animals shall be discussed with the Local Health Authority, City Animal Control Officer, or the Texas Department of Health for proper disposition. Any wild animal which has bitten a person should be caught and killed and the brain immediately submitted to a qualified laboratory for rabies examination. An exception to this rule may be allowed for large exotic or valuable zoo species, which by reason of their close confinement would be unlikely rabies specters. Birds and reptiles are not considered to be transmitters of the rabies virus and should not be submitted for laboratory examination for rabies.
(Ord. 98-014, passed 5-26-98)