(a) Office duties. The Office administers this Chapter.
(1) The Office must:
(A) provide an animal shelter program;
(B) assist and cooperate with the Health Officer and State officials in carrying out an anti-rabies program, including vaccination of dogs, cats, and ferrets, as required by State law and this Chapter;
(C) carry out a program to license dogs and cats, as required by State law and this Chapter;
(D) provide education programs regarding the humane treatment of animals;
(E) provide wildlife management; and
(F) provide a spay-neuter program.
(2) The Office may provide other services and programs to promote the humane treatment of animals and protect public health and welfare from animal-related hazards.
(b) Executive Director. The Executive Director of the Office must:
(1) maintain records of any license issued under this Chapter for an animal or facility;
(2) supervise any animal shelter;
(3) maintain permanent records of:
(A) animals impounded or otherwise harbored by an animal shelter;
(B) animals inoculated against rabies; and
(C) all animal bites or other attacks in the County;
(4) collect and dispose of any dead wild, domestic, or exotic animal the size of an opossum or larger, found on a County road or other County property (and may do the same for this type of animal found on other property) and must recover from any identifiable owner of the animal a collection and disposal fee; and
(5) enforce this Chapter and, concurrently with other authorized County officials, Chapter 31B (Noise Control) for a noise disturbance by an animal.
(c) Animal shelter. The County must, directly or by contract, maintain and operate an animal shelter or other place of confinement. The shelter must remove, harbor, care for, and dispose of any animal that the Office finds is abused, homeless, unwanted, abandoned, or neglected, or threatens the health, safety, peace, or security of the public.
(d) Care of animals. The County may contract with veterinarians or animal hospitals to care for injured or diseased animals whose owners are unknown, that the County or its agents collect, or that any person brings to the animal shelter.
(e) Enforcement of animal control laws. To the extent allowed by State law, the Office may enforce any State animal control law and any law under this Chapter. A reference in a State animal control law to the “appropriate authority” (or any similar term) in the County means the Office and any other County agency designated by regulation adopted under Method (3). (1999 L.M.C., ch. 10, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 2, § 1; 2017 L.M.C., ch. 36, §1; 2020 L.M.C., ch. 18, §1.)