Every physician or other medical
practitioner who treats a person or persons for any animal bite/scratch, or any person
having knowledge of an animal bite/scratch, will immediately report such treatment to the
City Police Department.
(A) A person who knows of an animal bite
or scratch to an individual that the person could reasonably foresee as capable of
transmitting rabies, or who knows of an animal that the person suspects is rabid, will
report the incident or animal to the City Police Department immediately.
(B) The report must include the name and
address of the victim and of the animal's owner, if known, and any other information that
may help in locating the victim or animal.
A.The Animal Control Officer or a veterinarian will quarantine or test any
animal that is believed to be rabid, may have been exposed to rabies or may have
exposed a person to rabies.
B.An owner will submit for quarantine an animal that meets the following
requirements:
Is reported to be rabid or to have exposed an individual to rabies; or
The owner knows or suspects is rabid or has exposed an individual to
rabies.
C.The Animal Control Division may allow home isolation of an owner’s
domestic animal if that animal is suspected of having been bitten or scratched
by a wild mammal and meets the following requirements.
The animal must be kept on the owner’s premises;
The Animal Control Officer shall inspect the location of the isolation
prior to isolation, and any time thereafter, to ensure the isolation is, and
shall remain, in accordance with requirements of the State Department of
Health.
The owner must contact a veterinarian for guidance to a rabies vaccination
program;
The isolated animal must not be able to come in contact with any other
animals or persons;
The owner shall designate only one person to care for the isolated animal
during the duration of isolation;
The duration of isolation shall be in accordance with the State Department
of Health.
D. The quarantine period for all animals will be in accordance with the
requirements set by the State Board of Health.
E.The animal
will be quarantined at the shelter, if stray or at a veterinarian clinic of the
owner's choice, at the owner's expense. If the owner of the stray animal is
located, the owner may be required to pay a fee to the animal shelter for the
quarantine.
F.If the
animal cannot be maintained in a safe and secure quarantine or isolation, it
shall be humanely destroyed and the brain submitted to a State Department of
Health certified laboratory for the rabies diagnosis.
If owner of animal is known, the owner will be obligated to pay costs of
packaging, shipping, and laboratory testing.
If owner is unknown, the city will be obligated to pay costs of packaging
and shipping. If the owner is located, the owner will be obligated to pay the
costs of packaging, shipping, and laboratory testing.
