(A) Any warm-blooded animal, capable of transmitting the virus rabies, maintained or harbored at any time in the city shall be vaccinated against rabies with an approved vaccine administered by a veterinarian who shall maintain a record of vaccination for a period of at least three years, and who shall issue the owner of the animal a vaccination certificate, which shall be retained by the owner until it expires and is renewed. The failure to procure the certificate when so requested by the Animal Control Officer shall be prima facie evidence that the animal has not been so vaccinated.
(B) (1) The identity and address of the owner of any animal that bites a person shall be promptly furnished to the Animal Control Officer and the county’s Health Department. The Animal Control Officer shall securely quarantine the animal until reasonable determination has been made that the animal is not infected with rabies.
(2) At the discretion of the Animal Control Officer, the quarantine may be on the premises of the owner, at a veterinary hospital of the owner’s choice at the owner’s expense, or at the municipal pound or animal shelter. In case of animals whose ownership is unknown, the quarantine shall be at the municipal pound or animal shelter. The animal may be reclaimed by the owner, if adjudged free of rabies. The owner shall then pay any related charges for confinement.
(C) When an animal under quarantine has been diagnosed as being rabid, or is suspected of having rabies by a licensed veterinarian, and dies while under the observation, the Animal Control Officer, veterinarian or other designated person shall immediately send the necessary part of the animal to the state’s Health Department for pathological examination and shall notify the proper Health Officer of any reports of human contact.
(D) When a report gives a positive diagnosis of rabies and the county’s Health Director feels that a rabies crisis may be imminent, the Health Department may recommend to the City Council a community- wide quarantine. Upon the invoking of the quarantine by the City Council, no animal shall be taken into the streets or permitted to be in the streets, except for short periods of exercise, under leash and control of a competent adult. During the quarantine, no animal may be taken or removed from the city, without written permission of the Animal Control Officer.
(E) During the period of rabies quarantine, every animal bitten by an animal adjudged to be rabid shall be forthwith destroyed; or, at the owner’s expense and option, shall be treated for a rabies infection by a licensed veterinarian; or, held under six-month quarantine by the owner in the same manner as a female in season. The period of quarantine may be extended from time to time.
(F) (1) No person shall remove from the city any animal suspected of having been exposed to rabies, or any animal which has bitten a human, except as herein provided.
(2) The carcass of any dead animal exposed to rabies shall be surrendered to the Animal Control Officer upon demand. The Animal Control Officer shall direct disposition of the animal.
(3) No person shall refuse to surrender any animal for quarantine or destruction when the demand is lawfully made by the Animal Control Officer.
(G) It shall be the duty of every person owning or harboring any dog or cat which is six months old or older within the corporate limits of the city to procure a rabies vaccination certificate from a licensed veterinarian, or agent authorized by the City Council, showing that the vaccination has been made, date of vaccination, by whom and the date when the vaccination shall expire.
(H) It shall be unlawful to not abide by the municipal vaccination requirements after 15 days of residency.
(2002 Code, § 90.08) Penalty, see § 90.99