(a) Dogs or cats showing active signs of rabies or suspected of having rabies shall be confined under competent observation for such a time as may be necessary to determine a diagnosis. If confinement is impossible or impracticable, such dog or cat shall be euthanized as provided in Section 612.16. Every person having knowledge of the existence of an animal apparently afflicted with rabies shall report immediately to the County Health Department the existence of such animal, the place where the animal was seen, the owner's name, if known, and the symptoms suggesting rabies.
(b) Any dog or cat, for which no proof of current rabies vaccination is available, and which is exposed to rabies through a bite, or through saliva or central nervous system tissue, in a fresh open wound or mucous membrane, by an animal believed to be infected with rabies, and which is not available for rabies testing, shall be confined in the Animal Shelter or in a kennel or enclosure approved by the Health Department for a period not to exceed six months at the expense of the owner. If confinement is not feasible, the dog or cat shall be euthanized as provided in Section 612.16. A rabies vaccination shall be administered prior to release. Inactivated rabies vaccine may be administered at the beginning of confinement. Any dog or cat so bitten, or exposed to rabies through saliva or central nervous system tissue, in a fresh open wound or mucous membrane, with proof of a current rabies vaccination, shall be revaccinated immediately following the bite and shall be confined to the premises of the owner, or other site as may be approved by the Health Department, for a period of forty-five days. If it later becomes known that the animal which bit the confined animal was not rabid, the confined animal shall be released.
(c) At the discretion of the Director of the Health Department, any animal which has bitten a person shall be confined under competent observation for ten days unless the animal develops active symptoms of rabies or expires before that. A seriously injured or sick animal may be humanely euthanized as provided in Section 612.16 and its head sent to the Health Department for evaluation. If confinement cannot, in the opinion of the Health Director, be made on the premises of the owner, the animal shall be confined in a manner approved by the Health Director, and the owner shall be responsible for an impoundment fee, if applicable, and the daily board in accordance with the fee schedule. Upon written direction from the Health Director the Animal Control Officer shall confine the animal at the Animal Shelter for the required period at the expense of the owner.
(d) When a human is exposed to rabies by a wild nondomestic, feral domestic or nonindigenous animal for which the period of rabies virus shedding, prior to the onset of clinical signs of rabies, is unknown, according to the State Department of Health, by a bite, lick, scratch or other exposure, the animal shall be immediately and humanely destroyed for rabies testing. In the case of a non-indigenous animal, where the owner submits to the Health Director a written, sworn affidavit, and, where appropriate, other reliable evidence is submitted, which shows to the satisfaction of the Health Director that the animal has never been exposed to an environment where it could possibly contract or be exposed to rabies, then the animal shall not be destroyed.
(e) (EDITOR’S NOTE: Subsection (e) was repealed by Ordinance 83-06, passed June 6, 1983.)
(f) All dogs and domesticated cats over four months of age, or older, in the County are required to have a current rabies vaccination. As used in this section, “domesticated cat” or “domestic cat” means a cat that is owned, in the possession of or being regularly fed or sheltered by a resident of the County. (Ord. 85-17. Passed 12-16-85.)
(g) When any potentially rabid animal, other than a dog or cat, exposes or may have exposed a person to rabies through a bite, or through saliva or central nervous system tissue, in a fresh open wound or mucous membrane, that animal shall be confined at the discretion of the Health Director in a manner approved by the Health Department or humanely euthanized as provided in Section 612.16 and its head sent to the Health Department for evaluation.
(h) When any animal, other than a dog or cat, is exposed to rabies through a bite, or through saliva or central nervous system tissue, in a fresh open wound or mucous membrane, by an animal believed to be afflicted with rabies, that newly exposed animal shall be confined at the discretion of the Health Director in a manner approved by the Health Department or humanely euthanized as provided in Section 612.16.
(Ord. 98-11. Passed 10-7-98; Ord. 03-12. Passed 9-15-03; Ord. 17-04. Passed 2-15-17; Ord. 17-09. Passed 10-3-17.)