BC 1996 03 19 - Laserfiche WebLink

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61 (~) It is the purpose of this article to supplement the state laws by providing a procedure for the enforcement of state laws relating to rabies control, in addition to the criminal penalties provided by state law. Section 2. Inoculation of dogs, cats, and other pets. (A) It shall be unlawful for an owner to fail to provide current inoculation by a licensed veterinarian against rabies (hydrophobia) for any dog or cat four (4) months of age or older. Should it be deemed necessary by the county Health Director, the Board of County Commissioners or the State Public Health Veterinarian that other pets be inoculated in order to prevent a threatened epidemic or to control an existing epidemic, it shall be unlawful for an owner to fail to provide current inoculation by a licensed veterinarian against rabies for that pet. A rabies inoculation shall be deemed "current" for a dog or cat if two inoculations have been given one year apart and a booster dose of rabies vaccine administered every three years thereafter. Section 3. Inoculation tag. (A) <B) (c) Section 4. Upon complying with the provisions of Section 2 of this article, there shall be issued to the owner of the animal inoculated a numbered metallic tag, stamped with the number and the year for which issued, and indicating that the animal has been inoculated against rabies. It shall be unlawful for any dog owner to fail to provide the dog with a collar or harness to which a current tag issued under this section is securely attached. The collar or harness, with attached tag, must be worn at all times unless the animal is confined in a secure enclosure. It shall be unlawful for any person to use for any animal a rabies inoculation issued for an animal other than the one using the tag. Evidence of inoculation of cats. Cats shall not be required to wear the metallic tag referred to in Section 3 of this article, but the owner of a cat shall maintain the rabies vaccination certificates as written evidence to prove that the cat has a current rabies inoculation. Section 5. Report and confinement of animals biting persons or showing symptoms of rabies. (c) (D) 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 Department, and thereupon shall be securely quarantined, at the direction of the Animal Control Department, for a period of ten (10) days, and shall not be released from such quarantine except by written permission from the Animal Control Department. 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 own premises, the animal control office shall authorize the animal to be confined on such 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 yard and the fenced-in area has no entrances or exits that are not locked, and the animal is currently vaccinated against rabies. If the animal is confined on the owner's premises, the animal control office shall revisit the premises for inspection purposes at approximately the middle of the confinement period and again at the conclusion of the confinement period. 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. If rabies does not develop within ten (10) days after a dog or cat is quarantined under this section, the dog or cat may be released from