Los Angeles County Municipal Code Ch. 10.48 Definitions and General Provisions

The ordinance codified in Division 2 of this title shall be known, as the "animal health ordinance" and may be cited as such.

(Ord. 8397 § 1 (part), 1963: Ord. 1415 Art. 1 § 1, 1926.)

This Division 2 shall in all respects be construed to supplement and harmonize with the provisions of the laws of the state of California pertaining to animal industry.

(Ord. 8397 § 1 (part), 1963: Ord. 2981 § 6, 1937; Ord. 1570 § 1, 1928: Ord. 1415 Art. 1 § 2, 1926.)

As used in this Division 2:

A.

"Accredited veterinarian" means one who has been so designated by the Director of the Animal Disease Eradication Division, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.

B.

"Animals" means any horses, mules, asses, cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, birds, rabbits, dogs, cats, or any animal or animals ordinarily considered as wild animals, which are kept in captivity or under control or ownership of any person for any purpose.

C.

"Approved veterinarian" means one so designated by the California Department of Agriculture to buy, possess or use tuberculin.

D.

"Garbage" means all discarded food, animal offal, or fruit and vegetable waste resulting from the preparation of food, or any manufactured product thereof, from, but not limited to, private dwellings, flats, canneries, kitchens, boarding houses,

apartment houses, hotels, restaurants, or other place or institution, public or private, where garbage is produced, or the waste or cleanings from chickens or other fowl, rabbits or other animals, or fish or other sea food, that have been prepared for, or intended to be used as food. "Garbage" does not include market refuse, or the hides, fat or bones of four-footed animals, or grease, meat scraps or other similar material being transported to a rendering plant for processing.

E.

"Immediate slaughter" means and applies to animals shipped to a public stockyards and released therefrom for slaughter, and to animals shipped to the plant or premises of a firm regularly engaged in the slaughter of animals under approved inspection.

F.

"Infectious disease" means and includes any infectious, contagious or communicable disease considered by the director of health services to be dangerous to the welfare of the county of Los Angeles and to the health of the animals therein, sufficient to warrant putting into effect the provisions of this Division 2 and his rules and regulations.

G.

"Institution" means any school, hospital, rest home, sanitarium, church, club, or any other establishment.

H.

"Market refuse" means waste vegetables or fruit, or the cuttings, trimmings, residue or scraps therefrom, that have resulted from the preparation of vegetables or fruit in markets or packing houses for public sale in markets, and shall not include meat scraps, bones or other garbage.

I.

"Modified accredited area" is an area so declared by the Director of the Animal Disease Eradication Division, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, as the result of official tuberculin tests of all cattle in said area, to have less than one-half of one percent of infection.

J.

"Packing house" means any place where meat, fruit, vegetables or fish are packed, prepared or stored.

K.

"Person" means any person, firm, company, association or corporation, their agents or employees.

L.

"Stockyards" means and applies to any stockyard, corral or premises wherein public trading in animals is carried on, or where yarding, feeding and watering facilities are provided, and where federal, state or county inspection is maintained for the inspection of animals for infectious diseases.

M.

"Tuberculin test" means any test approved by the Animal Disease Eradication Division, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, for the detection of tuberculosis in animals.

(Ord. 8962 § 1 (part), 1965; Ord. 8397 § 1 (part), 1963: Ord. 1415 Art. 2 §§ 18—30, 1926.)

A.

It shall be the duty of the director of public health, acting in cooperation with the Chief of the Division of Animal Industry, California Department of Agriculture, to enforce all laws of the state of California and all orders and ordinances of the board of supervisors of the county of Los Angeles pertaining to the health and sanitary surroundings of the animals in said county, and for that purpose he is empowered and authorized by and with the approval of the board of supervisors to establish, maintain and enforce such quarantine, sanitary, testing and immunizing measures or to promulgate such rules and regulations as he may deem proper and necessary.

B.

He shall regulate the movement of animals from stockyards, corrals and feed yards; supervise examination and testing of animals or premises for the presence of contagious, infectious or communicable diseases; provide for the ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections of animals slaughtered and meat products prepared; provide for the sanitation of plants and premises upon which animals are kept or upon which such slaughtering and preparation are conducted, enforce any and all regulations concerning the feeding of garbage, and construction and sanitation of hog ranches; provide for the identification and disposition of diseased animals, meats and meat products.

C.

He shall attend such meetings and conferences as may be called from time to time by the local representative of the Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture or the Director of Agriculture.

D.

He shall investigate within the state of California any reported outbreak of contagious, infectious or communicable disease, the presence of which in the state may constitute a menace to the health of animals in the county of Los Angeles.

(Ord. 2006-0040 § 41, 2006: Ord. 8962 § 1 (part), 1965: Ord. 8397 § 1 (part), 1963: Ord. 5252 § 1, 1948; Ord. 3621 § 2, 1940; Ord. 2981 §§ 2, 3, 5 and 7, 1937; Ord. 1425 §§ 1 and 3, 1926; Ord. 1415 Art. 1 § 5, 1926.)

Whenever by the provisions of this Division 2 a power is granted to the director of public health, or a duty imposed upon the director of public health, the power may be exercised or the duty performed by a deputy of the director of public health or by a person authorized pursuant to law by the director of public health, unless it is expressly otherwise provided.

(Ord. 2006-0040 § 42, 2006: Ord. 8962 § 1 (part), 1965: Ord. 8397 § 1 (part), 1963: Ord. 1425 § 3, 1926: Ord. 1415 Art. 1 § 6, 1926.)

Any person, firm, association or corporation violating any of the provisions of the ordinance codified in Division 2 of Title 10 of this code shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. 90-0089 § 10, 1990: Ord. 8397 § 1 (part), 1963: Ord. 2981 § 1, 1937; Ord. 1415 Art. 1 § 4, 1926.)

If any provision of the ordinance codified in this Division 2 or application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of said ordinance, and the application of such provisions to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

(Ord. 8397 § 1(part), 1963: Ord. 3621, 1940; Ord. 1415 Art. 1 § 3, 1926.)