ARTICLE 2.03 ANIMAL CONTROL & IDENTIFICATION

Each owner or keeper of any animal, so long as such animal is situated within the city, is hereby charged with the responsibility of controlling the conduct of any such animal at all times, regardless of whether any such animal is actually within the presence of its owner or keeper.

All dogs shall be kept under restraint.

Any animal running at-large is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.

Any person, at their own risk, may seize, impound or restrain any animal the person finds running at-large in the city and may hold such animal for the animal control officer or police or deliver such animal to the city shelter.

No person shall expose any known poisonous substance, whether mixed with food or not, so that the same shall be liable to be eaten by any animal, provided that it shall be lawful for a person to expose on his own property common rat poison mixed only with vegetable substance, except by owner-contracted pest control.

No person shall tease or agitate a restrained animal.

Any person owning, keeping, harboring, or having custody of any animal over four (4) months of age within the city shall provide each animal with a micro-chip, tagged collar, or a tagged harness which shall be worn by the animal at all times.

Every animal over four (4) months of age within the city must have an annual rabies vaccination by a licensed veterinarian or anti-rabies clinic. A current metallic rabies tag shall be securely fastened to the animal's collar or harness at all times.

The owner must identify each animal by tag, tattoo, micro-chip or other means with the owner's contact information.

Persons who fail to vaccinate or identify each animal as specified in this section will be subjected to a fine in accordance with the general penalty provision found in § 1.01.009 of this code.

Any citation issued hereunder for failure to have an animal properly vaccinated shall be dismissed upon proof of proper vaccination prior to the date of the citation that must be provided to the Municipal Court within ten (10) days of the date of the citation.

For the purpose of V.T.C.A., Health & Safety Code Section 826.017, the animal control officer shall serve as "rabies control authority" for the city.

Every animal which bites, scratches or breaks the skin of a person shall be promptly reported to the animal control officer not later than twenty-four (24) hours from the time of the incident, and shall thereupon be securely quarantined at the direction of the city police or animal control officer for observation period, and shall not be released from quarantine except by written permission of the animal control officer or other police officer. Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) next below, the owner may, at the owner's option and expense, quarantine in a veterinary hospital of his or her choice. If the biting animal cannot be maintained in secure quarantine, it shall be humanely destroyed and the brain submitted to the department of state health services certified laboratory for rabies diagnosis.

The owner, upon demand made by the animal control officer, shall forthwith surrender any animal which has bitten, scratched or broken the skin of a human, or which is suspected of having been exposed to rabies, for supervised quarantine and observation period, which expense shall be borne by the owner, and which animal may be reclaimed by the owner if adjudged free of rabies, and upon payment of fees set forth in the city's adopted fee schedule, and upon compliance with the licensing provisions of this chapter, if same have not already been complied with. If the animal has inflicted multiple bite wounds, punctures, or lacerations to the face, head, or neck of a person, the rabies control authority may order the animal to be humanely killed and the brain tested for rabies. A dog or cat which has bitten a human and has been designated by the rabies control authority as unclaimed, shall be humanely destroyed and the brain submitted to a department of state health services certified laboratory for rabies diagnosis.

When an animal under quarantine has been diagnosed as being rabid, or suspected by a licensed veterinarian as being rabid, and dies while under observation, the animal control officer shall immediately send the head of such animal to the department of state health services for pathological examination, and shall notify the proper public health officer of reports of human contacts, and the diagnosis made of the suspected animal.

The animal control officer shall direct the disposition of any animal found to be infected by rabies. If the biting animal is a high risk animal, it shall be humanely killed and the brain submitted for rabies testing. No wild animals will be placed in quarantine. All wild animals involved in biting incidents will be humanely killed in such a manner that the brain is not mutilated. The brain shall be submitted to the a department of state health services certified laboratory for rabies diagnosis. If the biting animal is a low risk animal, neither quarantine nor rabies test will be required unless the rabies control authority has cause to believe the biting animal is rabid, in which case it should be humanely killed and tested for rabies. Currently vaccinated animals which have been bitten or otherwise significantly exposed to a rabid animal or its fresh tissues, if sufficient justification for preserving the animal exists, the exposed vaccinated animal should be given a booster rabies vaccination immediately and placed in strict isolation for forty-five (45) days.

No person shall fall or refuse to surrender any animal for quarantine as required herein when demand is made therefor by the city police or animal control officer.