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(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)
No person shall knowingly harbor or keep any animal infected with rabies or any animal known to have come in contact with an animal known to have been infected with rabies unless the animal has current rabies shots. In that case the procedure stated in the current Compendium of Animal Rabies Control shall be followed.
(1992 Code, § 7-25) (Ord. 21-75, passed 4-7-1975) Penalty, see § 10.999
Any person who shall suspect that any animal in the city is infected with rabies shall report the animal to the animal control officer, describing the animal and giving the name and address of the owner if known.
(1992 Code, § 7-26) (Ord. 21-75, passed 4-7-1975)
Whenever the health authority shall have determined that there is danger of the existence or spread of rabies in the city, he or she shall make the facts known to the mayor in writing. The mayor, upon receipt of the facts, may, by proclamation in the interest of public safety and general welfare of the citizenry, order all animals muzzled when off the premises of the owner. Forty-eight hours after the publication of the proclamation, all animals found off the premises of the owner unmuzzled shall be seized and impounded or may be immediately destroyed if all reasonable efforts to seize the animals fail. All animals seized and impounded shall be held for observation for ten days, and if cleared by a licensed veterinarian, may be claimed by the owner and the owner must pay the expenses incidental thereto. Any animal not claimed may be disposed of pursuant to the provisions of this subchapter.
(1992 Code, § 7-30) (Ord. 21-75, passed 4-7-1975)
IMPOUNDING
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