Marin County Municipal Code Ch. 7.08 Rodent and Insect Control

This chapter is designed and enacted as a police and sanitary regulation for the protection of the public health and particularly to prevent the spread of bubonic plague by means of rats.

(Ord. 141 § 1, 1908)

The health officer or any agent or inspector appointed by him or by the board of health for the purpose shall have the authority, after announcing the purpose of his visit and showing his badge of authority and shall be permitted to enter any building or any premises or any part thereof in the county of Marin between the hours of nine a.m. and five p.m. for the purpose of inspecting the same and of ascertaining whether the provisions of this chapter have been complied with by the owner, occupant, lessee and agent thereof and for the further purpose of carrying these provisions into effect if they have not been so complied with.

(Ord. 141 § 2, 1908)

Officers, crew and passengers of plague infected ships, boats, launches or other watercraft are prohibited from landing in the county of Marin without written permission of the health officer or other agents or inspectors of the board of health.

(Ord. 141 § 3, 1908)

All buildings and all premises of whatever kind and for whatever use within the county of Marin shall be positively freed from rats by the owner, lessee, occupant or agent thereof by such means as may be prescribed by the board of health.

(Ord. 141 § 4, 1908)

All buildings and premises of whatever kind and for whatever use, shall be put and kept in a clean, sanitary state and shall be made and kept free from conditions which harbor rats or which promote or permit their multiplication.

(Ord. 141 § 5, 1908)

All foods and food supplies of whatever kind and wherever stored, kept or placed shall be protected from rats, mice and other vermin and from flies, mosquitoes and other insects by wire netting and such other means as may be prescribed by the board of health.

(Ord. 141 § 6, 1908)

All goods, wares and merchandise of whatever kind and wherever kept, stored or placed in the county of Martin whether kept for sale or for any other purpose shall be so protected as to prevent rats gaining access thereto or coming in contact therewith.

(Ord. 141 § 7, 1908)

All lumber of whatever kind and for whatever use and wherever stored, kept or placed within the county of Martin, shall be so piled or placed or stored by the owner or agent thereof as to leave underneath such lumber at least two feet of open space and shall be otherwise so piled or placed by said owner or agent as to afford no shelter, harbor or refuse for rats or other vermin.

(Ord. 141 § 8, 1908)

All stables, whether public or private, and other places where horses, cows, calves, pigs, chickens or other animals are sheltered, housed, placed or kept shall be kept in a clean, sanitary condition. Manure or other animal excrement shall not be allowed to accumulate for more than three days and shall be so protected by such means as may be prescribed by the board of health as to prevent the access thereof of rats and other vermin and of flies and other insects.

(Ord. 141 § 9, 1908)

No person, firm or corporation shall dump or place upon any land or in any waterway within the county of Marin, any dead animal, butchers' offal, fish or part of fish or any waste vegetable or animal matter whatever.

(Ord. 141 § 10, 1908)

The presence of rats or of the conditions which afford them refuge or harbor or which permit or promote their multiplication is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. It shall be the duty of the health officer to abate such nuisance immediately and completely.

(Ord. 141 § 11, 1908)

The health officer, inspector, or other authorized agent of the board of health shall quarantine all rat-infested warehouses, storehouses, slaughterhouses, meat markets, fish markets, vegetable markets, flour mills, groceries and all other rat-infested buildings where food or food supplies are stored, kept or sold, all rat-infested stables, chicken houses, coops or pens, and all other rat-infested buildings, places or premises where fowls or animals are fed, kept, housed or sheltered, all rat-infested docks, wharves and landings, dwelling houses, hotels, lodging houses, boardinghouses, restaurants, saloons, theaters and all other rat-infested places of business, pleasure, resort, assembly or public use of any kind whatever.

(Ord. 141 § 12, 1908)

If any buildings or premises of any kind whatever within the county of Marin have not been freed from rats and put in a clean and sanitary state within thirty days following the enactment of this chapter it shall be the duty of the health officer, inspector or other authorized agent of the board of health to enter such buildings or premises, put them in a free and sanitary state, free them from rats and make such repairs as in his opinion are necessary to make such buildings or premises ratproof. The health officer, inspector or other authorized agent of the board of health shall keep an exact and itemized account of all expenses incurred by him in putting such buildings and premises in a clean and sanitary state and in rat-freeing and ratproofing such buildings or premises and such expense with a penalty of fifty percent of such expense until paid in full shall constitute a lien on the property whereon such buildings or premises are situated. It shall be the duty of the district attorney to collect such expenses and penalty without necessary delay.

(Ord. 141 § 13, 1908)

The board of health shall appoint inspectors in sufficient number to enforce this chapter in all its provisions. Such inspectors shall hold office at the pleasure of the board of health.

(Ord. 141 § 14, 1908)

Any person or corporation violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(Ord. 141 § 15, 1908)