(a) When any person owning or harboring a dog, cat or other animal has been notified that the animal has bitten or attacked any person, the owner must within 24 hours place the animal under the care and observation of the animal control officer or a licensed veterinarian for a period of not less than ten days. However, if the owner has a current rabies vaccination for the animal, the animal control officer may, if the officer feels the facilities are adequate and if the owner is a responsible person, quarantine the animal on the owner’s premises. In this case, the owner must sign a statement and understand the responsibility and assume the liability that is involved with the quarantine of an animal that has bitten. The quarantined animal must at all times be available for inspection during the quarantine.
(b) At the end of the ten-day observation period, the animal shall be examined by the animal control officer and, if cleared, may be reclaimed by the owner and the owner must pay the expense incurred incident thereto.
(c) Any animal impounded or placed for observation, showing active signs of rabies, suspected of having rabies or known to have been exposed to rabies shall be confined under competent observation for a time as may be deemed necessary to determine a diagnosis.
(d) Any animal that has bitten or attacked that cannot be captured may be destroyed in a manner that the head is not damaged and can be submitted for a rabies examination to a laboratory.
(e) Any animal that has bitten any person may be euthanized by order of the chief of police or a physician or a veterinarian from the board of health unless proof of a current rabies vaccination effected not less than 30 days prior to the bite is provided within 24 hours of the bite. Any animal that has bitten any person may be euthanized by order of the chief of police with the advice of the health authority if, based on sound medical judgments, a greater risk to human life exists by not so doing. In making a determination, the chief of police and health authority shall take into consideration the following factors:
(1) The history of the animal including the possibility of its exposure to rabies;
(2) The vaccination record of the animal;
(3) The health of the animal;
(4) The nature, location and seriousness of the bite;
(5) The circumstances surrounding the bite including whether or not the bite was provoked; and
(6) The tolerance of the person bitten to the vaccines used for treatment.
(f) The city shall, in the case of an animal bite, follow the procedures stated in the current Compendium of Animal Rabies Control published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, Inc., and endorsed by the Center for Disease Control.
(1992 Code, § 7-24) (Ord. 21-75, passed 4-7-1975; Ord. 7-78, passed 1-30-1978; Ord. 59-07, passed 4-16-2007; Ord. 79-11, passed 10-11-2011)