(a) 
Required; certificate and tag.
All dogs within the city are hereby required to be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian on or before the first day of June, 1937, and each year thereafter, and it is further provided herein that every veterinarian who vaccinates any dog in the city, either male or female, shall issue a certification of vaccination to such owner, stating the name of the owner, a brief description of the dog and the date of vaccination. Upon presentation of this certificate, it shall be the duty of the city secretary to issue a metal tag with the inscription “VACCINATED AGAINST RABIES,” and numbered. It shall also be the duty of the city secretary to keep a correct record of dog tags issued, together with the description of each dog so tagged.
(b) 
Violations; penalty.
Any person who shall neglect to have his or her dog vaccinated or shall willfully remove the collar from any dog or shall remove the tag from any dog collar shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum of not less than five dollars ($5.00) and not more than ten dollars ($10.00).
(Ordinance 83, secs. 2, 4, adopted 5/3/37)
(a) 
Every animal which bites a person shall be promptly reported to the police department and shall thereupon be securely quarantined at the direction of the police officer for a period of ten (10) days, and shall not be released from such quarantine except by written permission of the police department. Such quarantine shall be at a veterinary hospital of the city’s choice.
(b) 
In the cases of stray animals or in the cases of animals whose ownership is not known, such quarantine shall be at the Wortham shelter.
(c) 
It shall be unlawful for any person who owns or harbors a vaccinated dog or cat to fail or refuse to exhibit his or her copy of the certificate of vaccination or the rabies tag upon demand to any person charged with the enforcement of these regulations.
(d) 
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 health authority, giving any information that may be required. For any animal known to have been or suspected of being exposed to rabies, the following rules must apply:
(1) 
Animals having a current vaccination shall be revaccinated immediately and confined according to the method prescribed by the health authority for a period of not less than forty-five (45) days; and
(2) 
If the animal is unvaccinated, the animal will be immediately vaccinated and placed in isolation for ninety (90) days and given additional booster vaccinations in the third (3rd) and eighth (8th) week.
(3) 
If the veterinarian determines that the quarantined animal does not show clinical signs of rabies, it may be released. If the animal shows clinical signs, it will then be humanely destroyed and its head or brain submitted to the nearest laboratory certified by the department of state health services for rabies diagnosis.
(Ordinance 655-0407, art. VI, adopted 4/10/07)