(A) Any bite to a human or wound exposing an individual to the possibility of rabies or other zoonotic disease (referred to in this section as an “incident”) shall be immediately reported to the Sheriff’s office and the Village Clerk-Treasurer by the victim and by the owner or harborer of the animal if the incident is known to them. Any such animal bite that requires medical treatment shall be reported within 24 hours to the Sheriff’s Department by the treating physician or hospital caring for the patient.
(B) It shall be the duty of every owner or harborer of any animal, upon receiving notice or having knowledge of the involvement of his or her pet in a human exposure to the possibility of rabies or other zoonotic disease by biting, to immediately place such animal in a duly licensed veterinary medical facility, the address of which must be furnished to the Village Clerk-Treasurer, where such animal shall be isolated and confined for observation for ten consecutive days from and including the date of the incident. It shall be unlawful for the owner or harborer of the animal involved in such incident to release it from said placement or to hide or conceal such animal or to take or allow such animal to be taken beyond the limits of the village or the facility in which it is placed, unless authorized by the Sheriff’s Department or court, until a period of confinement and observation required in this section is completed.
(C) The owner or harborer of such animal involved in an incident shall be liable for the costs of confinement and observation.
(D) The death of such animal or any suspicious change in the health or behavior of any such animal undergoing observation shall be reported as soon as possible by the observing authority to the Sheriff’s Department or its designee and the Village Clerk-Treasurer.
(E) Unless determined otherwise by the Sheriff’s Department, an exception to the confinement required by this section shall be granted in cases where a female dog is nursing unweaned puppies or a female cat is nursing unweaned kittens.
(F) If any dangerous, fierce or vicious animal believed involved in an incident (as the term “incident” is used in divisions (A) and (B) above cannot be safely captured or prevented from escaping by usual means, such animal may be slain by the Sheriff or his or her designee. In a case where such animal may have exposed a person to rabies and is slain before the completion of the observation period stipulated for the species by the Director of Health, it shall be the duty of the person slaying such animal to forthwith deliver, or cause to be delivered, all remains of such animal, including the undamaged head, to the location designated by the Sheriff.
(Ord. 657, passed 6-22-2022) Penalty, see § 92.99