Exeter Municipal Code Ch. 6.20 Rabies

This chapter shall be subject to provisions of Sections 121575-121710 of the Health and Safety Code of the State of California dealing with rabies control as those statutes presently exist or are later modified. The municipal code shall only be enforced to the extent it is not preempted by state law.

(Ord. No. 717, § 2, 1-13-2026)

Whenever the owner of an animal observes or learns that such animal shows symptoms of rabies or acts in a manner that would lead to a reasonable suspicion that it may have rabies, such person shall immediately notify the Tulare County health officer. Said person shall thereafter allow the health officer or their representative to make an inspection or examination of said animal.

(Ord. No. 717, § 2, 1-13-2026)

The owner of any rabid animal or clinically suspected rabid animal shall isolate the animal in strict confinement under proper care and under the observation of a veterinarian, in a pound, veterinary hospital, or other adequate facility in a manner approved by the health officer, and said animal shall not be killed or released from confinement for at least ten days after the onset of symptoms suggestive of rabies and until the health officer gives written authorization for the release of the animal, with the exception that such animal may be sacrificed with the permission of the health officer for the purpose of a laboratory examination for rabies using the fluorescent rabies antibody test in an approved public health laboratory.

(Ord. No. 717, § 2, 1-13-2026)

Whenever the owner of an animal has knowledge that such animal has bitten any person, the owner shall immediately report that fact to the county health officer and report the name and address of the person bitten and the time and place that such person was bitten. Upon order of the county health officer, the owner shall quarantine the animal for the period of time specified in Section 2606 of Title 17 of the California Administrative Code with regard to rabies areas, and shall allow the health officer or his representative to make inspections and examinations of the animal from time to time during such period. The county health officer shall quarantine said animal upon the premises of the owner. However, if the owner of the animal so desires, the county health officer shall place the animal in quarantine in a veterinary hospital or the animal care center, at the expense of the owner, in lieu of quarantine of the animal on the premises of the owner. Quarantine shall be made by written notice delivered to the owner of said animal stating that the animal is quarantined and the instructions to be followed. If the quarantine is upon the premises of the owner of the animal, the animal shall be confined within a locked enclosure so constructed that the animal cannot escape or have contact with any other animal or human being other than the person responsible for its care or, at the discretion of the health officer, the animal may be kept under restraint by leash in charge of a responsible person, or under such restrictions as the health officer may prescribe. Said animal shall be kept in quarantine until the health officer gives written authorization for the release of the animal from quarantine. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, such animal may be sacrificed with the permission of the health officer for the purpose of a laboratory examination for rabies using the fluorescent rabies antibody test in an approved public health laboratory.

(Ord. No. 717, § 2, 1-13-2026)

Any animal of a species subject to rabies which has been bitten by a known rabid or suspected rabid animal or has been in intimate contact with a rabid or suspected rabid animal shall be quarantined by the owner in a place and manner approved by the health officer, for a period of six months or destroyed; provided, however, that the following alternatives are permitted in the case of dogs and cats: If the dog or cat has been vaccinated against rabies within three years but not less than thirty days with a rabies vaccine approved by the California Department of Health, or within one year but not less than thirty days with an approved rabies vaccine, as those types of vaccines are defined in Section 2606 et seq., of Title 17 of the Code of Regulations, the dog or cat may be revaccinated in a manner approved by the health officer and quarantined in a place and manner approved by the health officer for a period of thirty days. The provisions of Section 6.20.010 concerning quarantine shall also apply to the quarantine of animals pursuant to this section.

(Ord. No. 717, § 2, 1-13-2026)

When any animal is quarantined by the county health officer, it is unlawful for the owner of the animal to violate the quarantine by removing said animal from the premises where it is quarantined, allowing it to run at large, destroying it without authorization from the health officer, concealing it from the health officer, or disobeying any of the quarantine restrictions which have been imposed by the health officer.

(Ord. No. 717, § 2, 1-13-2026)