(A) Every dog or cat which has bitten any person or which shows symptoms of rabies shall be confined immediately and shall be promptly reported to the animal control department, and thereupon shall be securely quarantined, at the direction of the Animal Control Department, for a period of ten days, and shall not be released from quarantine except by written permission from the Police Chief or his designee.
(B) Dogs and cats quarantined under this section shall be confined in a veterinary hospital, boarding kennel or town or county animal shelter, at the expense of the owner; provided, however, that if an animal control officer determines that the owner of an animal which must be quarantined has adequate confinement facilities upon his own premises, the animal control officer shall authorize the animal to be confined on the premises. The animal control officer may not authorize the animal to be confined on the owner's premises unless the owner has a fenced-in area in his yard and the fenced-in area has no entrances or exits that are not locked, and the animal is currently vaccinated against rabies and has a current license tag. If the animal is confined on the owner's premises, the animal control officer shall revisit the premises for inspection purposes at approximately the middle of the confinement period and again at the conclusion of the confinement period.
(C) In the case of stray dogs or cats whose ownership is not known, the dogs or cats may be euthanized and the head examined for rabies in accordance with the provisions and requirements of G.S. § 130A-199, or may be kept for the supervised quarantine period required by this section at the Kill Devil Hills or Dare County Animal Shelter.
(D) If rabies does not develop within ten days after a dog or cat is quarantined under this section, the dog or cat may be released from quarantine with the written permission of the Animal Control Division.