Every physician or other medical practitioner who treats a person
or persons for any animal bite or scratch or any person having knowledge
of an animal bite or scratch shall within 12 hours report such treatment
to the animal services division giving the name, age, sex, and precise
location of the bitten/scratched person or persons and such other
information as the officer or agency may require.
(Ordinance 2022-06 adopted 5/23/2022)
Any veterinarian who clinically diagnoses rabies or any person
who suspects rabies in a dog, cat or other domestic or wild animal
shall immediately report the incident to the Local Rabies Control
Authority (LRCA) or as otherwise designated by the city administrator
stating precisely where such animal may be found. If a known suspected
rabid animal bites or scratches a domestic animal, such incident shall
also be reported as required above.
(Ordinance 2022-06 adopted 5/23/2022)
(a)
Dogs, cats, and ferrets.
Any owned dog, cat or ferret which has bitten or scratched a person shall be observed for a period of 240 hours from the time of the bite or scratch. The procedure and place of observation shall be designated by the investigating officer or responsible agency, in compliance with state law. If the dog, cat or ferret is not confined on the owner's premises, confinement shall be by impoundment in the animal adoption and rescue center, or facility contracted by the city, or at a veterinary hospital of the owner's choice, within a ten-mile radius of the city. Such confinement shall be at the owner's expense. Stray dogs, cats or ferrets whose owner(s) cannot be located shall be confined in the animal adoption and rescue center or facility contracted by the city for a period of four business days and if unclaimed may be destroyed and the brain of such animal immediately submitted to a qualified laboratory for rabies examination at the victim's expense. The owner of any dog, cat or ferret that has been reported to have inflicted a bite on any person shall, on demand, produce said dog, cat or ferret for impoundment, as prescribed in this article. Quarantine by home owner (see section 3.01.002) may be allowed only in those incidents where permitted by state law and agreed to by the city. Refusal to produce said dog, cat or ferret constitutes a violation of this section and each day of such refusal shall constitute a separate and individual violation.
(b)
Wild, exotic or dangerous animals.
Any wild, exotic
or dangerous animal as defined in this chapter and considered "high
risk" according to state law, which has bitten or scratched a person
shall be caught and humanely killed and the brain submitted for rabies
examination. Those wild animals which are classified as "low risk"
animals shall be handled as dictated by state law.
(Ordinance 2022-06 adopted 5/23/2022)
As required by Texas Health and Safety Code section 826.017,
the city's animal services division supervisor is hereby designated
as the local rabies control authority.
(Ordinance 2022-06 adopted 5/23/2022)
