§ 14-41. Human exposure to rabies or other zoonotic disease—Animal bites generally.
Any bite 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 supervisor of animal health and public safety by the victim, and by the owner, keeper or harborer of the animal if the incident is known to him. Any animal bite which requires medical treatment shall be reported within 24 hours to the director of health by the treating physician or hospital caring for the patient. It shall be the duty of the police department to promptly notify the supervisor of animal health and public safety of any such bite reported to the police. It shall be unlawful for the owner, keeper or person harboring the animal involved in such incident to release it from his custody or to hide or conceal such animal or to take or allow such animal to be taken beyond the limits of the city unless so authorized by the director of health, until an observation period stipulated by the director of health for the particular species of animal is over or such period is ruled unnecessary by the director of health. It shall be the duty of such owner or keeper, upon receiving notice of such incident, to immediately place the animal involved in a duly licensed veterinary medical facility, the address of which must be furnished the supervisor of animal health and public safety at once, or in the municipal animal shelter, where such animal shall be isolated and confined for observation. The owner or keeper of an animal involved in a biting incident shall be liable for the cost of confinement and observation. The death or any suspicious change in health or behavior of any such animal undergoing observation shall be reported immediately by the observing authority to the director of health or his designated representative. If a proper period of observation is undetermined or undeterminable for the species of animal involved in an incident, to protect the general public, the director of health is hereby empowered to order whatever laboratory examination of the animal or the animal's tissues is required by prudent medical practice, and no liability for damages shall arise from any injury to or the death of the animal occasioned by such laboratory examination. When an animal involved in an incident is outside the city, the director of health or the supervisor of animal health and public safety shall forward information concerning the incident to the appropriate authority of the jurisdiction of residence of the owner, keeper or harborer or the appropriate state health department for coordinated disease prevention.
(Code of Gen. Ords. 1967, § 6.38; Ord. No. 48707, 6-22-78; Ord. No. 53297, 10-22-81; Ord. No. 65201, 3-1-90; Ord. No. 980957, § 1, 8-27-98; Ord. No. 060086, § 1, 2-2-06)