2016-002 - Amending Chapter 5 - Animals and Fowl of the Code of Ordinances

Home Browse Search

valid only for the animal for which they were originally issued. f. Proof. It shall be an offense for any person who owns or harbors a vaccinated dog or cat to fail or refuse to exhibit his copy of the certificate of vaccination upon demand to any person charged with the enforcement of this ordinance. g. Harboring unvaccinated animals. It shall be an offense for any person to harbor any dog or cat which has not been vaccinated against rabies, as provided in this article, or which cannot be identified as having a current vaccination certificate. h. Animals exposed to rabies. Any person having knowledge of the existence of any animal known to have been, or suspected of being, exposed to rabies must immediately report such knowledge to the animal control division, giving any information that may be required. For any animal to have been, or suspected of being, exposed to rabies, the following rules must apply: 1. Animals having a current vaccination must be revaccinated immediately and confined at the owner's expense according to the method prescribed by the animal control manager for a period of not less than 45 days. 2. Animals not having a current vaccination should be humanely destroyed. However, if the owner of such an animal elects, he may, at his expense and in a manner prescribed by the animal control officer, confine such animal. Such animal must be vaccinated immediately following exposure and confined for not less than three months. A revaccination shall be administered on the third and eighth week prior to release from confinement. i. Declaration of quarantine. Should a potential outbreak of rabies within the city be suspected and the danger to the public safety from rabid animals be reasonably imminent, the local rabies authority is hereby authorized to issue a quarantine proclamation, ordering persons owning, keeping, or harboring dogs or other animals to muzzle the same or confine them in such quarantine proclamation by local newspaper. Persons owning or harboring such animals shall confine them to the premises unless they are effectively muzzled and under the control of an adult person by leash, cord, chain, or rope. Animals found at large in violation of this section may be destroyed by an animal control officer or police officer of the city if such officer is unable, with reasonable effort, to apprehend such animal for impoundment. j. Reporting animal bites. Every physician or other medical practitioner who treats a person for any animal bite, or any person having knowledge of an animal bite, shall, within 24 hours, report such treatment to the animal control division giving the name, age, sex and precise location of the bitten person and such other information as the officer or agency may require. The animal control division will investigate each bite incident, utilizing standardized reporting forms provided by the state department of health. Human bites from rodents, rabbits,