(A) Every dog or cat which has bitten any person or which shows symptoms of rabies shall be confined immediately and shall be promptly reported to the Animal Control Program, and thereupon shall be securely quarantined, at the direction of the Animal Control Program, for a period of ten days, and shall not be released from the quarantine except by written permission from the Animal Control Program.
(B) Dogs and cats quarantined under this section shall be confined in a veterinary hospital, boarding kennel or county animal shelter, at the expense of the owner; provided, however, that if an animal control officer determines that the owner of an animal which must be quarantined has adequate confinement facilities upon his or her own premises, the animal control officer shall authorize the animal to be confined on the premises. The animal control officer may not authorize the animal to be confined on the owner’s premises unless the owner has a fenced-in area in his or her yard and the fenced-in area has no entrances or exits that are not locked, and the animal is currently vaccinated against rabies. Proof will be required at the time of investigation. If the animal is confined on the owner’s premises, the animal control officer shall revisit the premises for inspection purposes at approximately the middle of the confinement period and again at the conclusion of the confinement period.
(C) In the case of stray dogs or cats whose ownership is not known, the dogs or cats may be euthanized and the head examined for rabies or kept for the supervised quarantine period required by this section at the county animal shelter.
(D) If rabies does not develop within ten days after a dog or cat is quarantined under this section, the dog or cat may be released from quarantine with the written permission of the animal control program. If the dog or cat has been confined in the county animal shelter, the owner shall pay any necessary veterinarian fees and a boarding fee set by the Board of Health and approved by the Board of County Commissioners.
(E) In the case of any carnivore or bat the animal may be euthanized and the head examined for rabies.
(1985 Code, § 91.34) Penalty, see § 91.99