(a) No person, having knowledge of the existence of any rabies, or the fact that any animal has bitten any other person, shall fail to immediately report such information to the Board of Health.
(b) No person shall remove or transfer any animal that has bitten any person from the City until a quarantine period as specified in subsection (e) has been completed except that a person may transfer a dog to the County Dog Warden or the Animal Control Officer of the City.
(c) No person shall kill a dog or other animal that has bitten any person until a quarantine period as specified in subsection (e) has been completed. This prohibition does not apply to the killing of a dog or other animal in order to prevent further injury or death or if the dog or animal is diseased or seriously injured.
(d) No person who has killed a dog or other animal that has bitten any person in order to prevent further injury or death or if the dog or animal is diseased or seriously injured shall fail to immediately notify the Board of Health of the facts relative to the bite and the killing and hold the body of the dog or other animal until the Board of Health claims it to perform tests for rabies.
(e) The quarantine period for a dog or other animal that has bitten any person shall be ten days or any other period as deemed necessary by the Board of Health to observe the dog or other animal for rabies.
(f) This section does not apply to a police dog that has bitten a person while the police dog is under the care of a licensed veterinarian or has bitten a person while the police dog is being used for law enforcement, corrections, prison or jail security, or investigative purposes. If, after biting a person, a police dog exhibits any abnormal behavior, the law enforcement agency and the law enforcement officer the police dog assists, within a reasonable time after the person is bitten, shall make the police dog available for the Board of Health for the district in which the bite occurred to perform tests for rabies.
(g) As used in this section, “police dog” has the same meaning in Section 2921.321 [2921.32.1] of the Ohio Revised Code.
(h) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first offense and of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on each subsequent offense.
(Ord. 07-098. Passed 12-10-07.)