Monterey County Municipal Code Ch. 8.32 Rabies

A. Reporting. Any person having knowledge of the whereabouts of an animal known to have or suspected of having rabies shall report the facts immediately to the County Health Officer. The County Health Officer shall likewise be notified of any person or animal bitten by an animal of a species subject to rabies, whether or not the animal is suspected of having rabies.

B. Isolation. Any rabid animal, clinically suspected rabid animal, or biting animal shall be isolated in strict confinement as follows:

1. Isolation of Rabid Animals or Clinically Suspected Rabid Animals. Any rabid animal or clinically suspected rabid animal shall be isolated in strict confinement under proper care and under the observation of a licensed veterinarian, in a pound, veterinary hospital, or other adequate facility in a manner approved by the local health officer, and shall not be killed or released for at least ten (10) days after the onset of symptoms suggestive of rabies, with the exception that such animals may be sacrificed with permission of the local health officer for the purpose of laboratory examination for rabies using the fluorescent rabies antibody (FRA) test in an approved public health laboratory.

2. Isolation of Biting Animals. Any animal which bites or otherwise exposes a person shall be isolated in strict confinement in a place and manner approved by the County Health Officer and observed for at least fourteen (14) days (dogs and cats ten (10) days) after the day of the infliction of the bite. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the County Health Officer may authorize, with permission of the owner and other legal restrictions permitting, the euthanasia of a biting animal for the purpose of laboratory examination for rabies using the fluorescent rabies antibody (FRA) test in an approved public health laboratory.

3. At the discretion of the County Health Officer, rodents (members of the order Rodentia) and rabbits and hares (members of the order Lagomorpha) may be exempt from the provisions of Subsection 2 above.

4. Laboratory Examination of Rabid Animals, Clinically Suspected Rabid Animals or Biting Animals Which Die or Have Been Killed. If any rabid animal, clinically suspected rabid animal or biting animal dies or has been killed, adequate specimens shall be obtained and examined in a public health laboratory approved by the State Department of Health Services. No person shall destroy or allow to be destroyed the brain of an animal of a species subject to rabies that has bitten or otherwise exposed a person before the destruction of such brain has been authorized by the County Health Officer; provided, however, that the provisions of this Paragraph 4 shall not apply to rodents (members of the order Rodentia) and rabbits or hares (members of the order Lagomorpha).

C. Animal Contacts. Any animal of a species subject to rabies which has been bitten by a known rabid animal shall be quarantined in a place and manner approved by the County Health Officer for a period of six months or destroyed, with the exception that the following alternatives are permitted in the case of dogs and cats:

1. If a dog over one year of age has been vaccinated against rabies within thirty-six (36) months, but not less than thirty (30) days with a rabies vaccine of a type approved by the State Department of Health Services for a maximum immunity duration of at least thirty-six (36) months, the dog may be revaccinated immediately (within forty-eight (48) hours) in a manner prescribed by the State Department of Health Services and quarantined in a place and manner approved by the County Health Officer for a period of thirty (30) days following revaccination.

2. If a dog under one year of age has been vaccinated against rabies within twelve (12) months, but not less than thirty (30) days with a rabies vaccine of a type approved by the State Department of Health Services, the dog may be revaccinated immediately (within forty-eight (48) hours) in a manner prescribed by the State Department of Health Services and quarantined in a place and a manner approved by the County Health Officer for a period of thirty (30) days.

3. If a cat has been vaccinated within one year, but not less than thirty (30) days with an annual type feline rabies vaccine, or if a cat has been vaccinated under one year of age with a thirty-six (36) month type of feline rabies vaccine within twelve (12) months, but not less than thirty (30) days, the cat may be revaccinated immediately (within forty-eight (48) hours) in a manner prescribed by the State Department of Health Services and quarantined in a place and manner approved by the County Health Officer for a period of thirty (30) days following revaccination.

4. If a cat over one year of age has been vaccinated against rabies and has been vaccinated within thirty-six (36) months and more than thirty (30) days with a thirty-six (36) month type feline rabies vaccine, the cat may be revaccinated immediately (within forty-eight (48) hours) in a manner prescribed by the State Department of Health Services and quarantined in a place and a manner approved by the County Health Officer for a thirty (30) day period following revaccination.

(Ord. 3629, 1992)

A. Whenever the disease known as rabies is developed in any dog, cat or other animal in the unincorporated area in the County of Monterey, or whenever such dog, cat or other animal is imported into or enters any portion of the unincorporated area affected with rabies, the County Health Officer is authorized to declare a quarantine in a specified area in such unincorporated territory which shall include the location where the animal or animals so affected with rabies is found and a sufficient area contiguous thereto to safeguard against the spread of the disease in said areas.

B. For the purpose of this Section, "quarantine" means the strict confinement upon the private premises of the owners or an establishment controlled and supervised by a licensed veterinarian, under restraint by a chain leash and chain collar or closed cage or paddock so as not to permit contact with other animals or people besides the immediate family.

C. The quarantine shall take effect from the date declared by the County Health Officer and bi-lingual notices shall be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the County and in any additional publication where it may appear to be in the interests of the public. Forthwith upon the declaration of any such quarantine by the County Health Officer, he or she shall give notice in writing to the Sheriff of Monterey County, and the Sheriff and all Animal Control Officers shall cause to be gathered in, and promptly humanely destroy all dogs and cats which they or any of them may find, other than those securely confined in such quarantined area as described in Subsection B of this Section.

(Ord. 3629, 1992)

If it appears to the Animal Control Officer or his or her designee, upon the examination provided for in this Chapter, that a dog or other animal has rabies, he or she may humanely destroy such animal forthwith.

(Ord. 3629, 1992)