(A) Any owner of an animal kept as a pet that bites or scratches a person or other animal penetrating the skin, shall be required to secure and confine the animal inside an appropriate building or enclosure for a period of ten calendar days. The owner shall also immediately report the bite or scratch to the Animal Control Officer/City Police Department or the County Health Department, as well as report any unusual behavior or appearance change in the animal during the ten-calendar-day period. In the event the Animal Control Officer has reason to believe the owner will not comply with this section, the Animal Control Officer shall take custody of the animal and confine it at the impound facility for ten business days at the expense of the owner.
(B) Upon a report of a bite or scratch of a person or other animal, penetrating skin, the Animal Control Officer shall investigate and, if there is human exposure, search out and attempt to discover the animal involved, the owner of the animal, and proceed as described in this chapter.
(C) Any animal running loose after biting or scratching a person or other animal, causing penetration of the skin, and whose owner cannot be determined, shall be confined for ten business days at the city impoundment facility or another local facility.
(D) Any wild animal that bites or scratches a person causing penetration of the skin shall be immediately destroyed according to state-defined suspected rabid animal procedures.
(E) Any animal, domestic or wild, which has bitten or scratched a person or other animal causing penetration of the skin that cannot be apprehended may, at the discretion of the Animal Control Officer, be immediately destroyed according to state-defined suspected rabid animal procedures.
(F) Any animal, as previously described in any of the above sections, that should die or become ill during the time of confinement will be suspected as rabid and treated according to state-defined suspected rabid animal procedures.
(Ord. passed 3-11-2021)