(A) The Health Director shall designate employees or agents enforcing this chapter as Animal Control Officer(s)(ACO). In the performance of said duties, ACO shall have all the powers, authority and immunity granted under this chapter and by the general laws of this state to enforce the provisions of this chapter, and the General Statutes of North Carolina as they relate to the care, treatment, control, or impoundment of animals.
(B) Except as may be otherwise provided by statutes, local laws, or ordinances, no officer, agent or employee of the county charged with the duty of enforcing the provisions of this chapter or other applicable laws shall be personally liable for any damage that may accrue to persons or property as a result of any act required or permitted in the discharge of such duties unless he acts with actual malice.
(C) The Animal Control Program shall assist Surry County municipalities experiencing animal control issues, in those areas over which municipal animal control programs are not applicable, the Animal Control Program shall apply, and assist each municipality enforce their regulations.
(D) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter it shall be unlawful for any person to resist, obstruct, delay, interfere with, hinder, or molest Animal Control Officers or veterinarians in the performance of any duty authorized by this chapter. It shall be unlawful for any person to seek to release any animal in the custody of the Animal Control Office, or its agents. An animal is in the custody of the Animal Control Office or its agents when it is in the back of an Animal Control vehicle, in a live trap, in any type of confinement device, or otherwise under the physical control of an ACO. Anyone in violation of this section will be subject to a $100 fine as a first offense, and a $300 fine for each subsequent civil citation offense.
(Ord. passed 8-1-2016)