Chapter 1. Rabies Control of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 105. >> Part 6. >> Chapter 1.

"Rabies," as used in this chapter, includes rabies, and any other animal disease dangerous to human beings that may be declared by the department as coming under this chapter.

"Quarantine," as used in this chapter, means the strict confinement, upon the private premises of the owner, under restraint by leash, closed cage, or paddock, of all animals specified in the order of the department.

"Rabies area" shall mean any area not less than a county as determined by the director within a region where the existence of rabies constitutes a public health hazard, as found and declared by the director. A region shall be composed of two or more counties as determined by the director. The status of an area as a rabies area shall terminate at the end of one year from the date of the declaration unless, not earlier than two months prior to the end of the year, it is again declared to be a rabies area in the manner provided in this section. If however, the director at any time finds and declares that an area has ceased to be a rabies area its status shall terminate upon the date of the declaration.

Whenever any case of rabies is reported as existing in any county or city, the department shall make, or cause to be made, a preliminary investigation as to whether the disease exists, and as to the probable area of the state in which the population or animals are endangered.

If upon the investigation the department finds that rabies exists, a quarantine shall be declared against all animals as are designated in the quarantine order, and living within the area specified in the order.

Following the order of quarantine the department shall make or cause to be made a thorough investigation as to the extent of the disease, the probable number of persons and animals exposed, and the area found to be involved.

The department may substitute for the quarantine order regulations as may be deemed adequate for the control of the disease in each area.

All peace officers and boards of health shall carry out the provisions of this chapter.

During the period for which any quarantine order is in force any officer may kill or in his or her discretion capture and hold for further action by the department any animal in a quarantine area, found on public highways, lands, and streets, or not held in restraint on private premises as specified in this chapter.

Any proper official within the meaning of this chapter may examine and enter upon all private premises for the enforcement of this chapter.

Except as provided in Sections 121705 and 121710, every person who possesses or holds any animal in violation of the provisions of this chapter is guilty of an infraction, punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000).

For the purpose of providing funds to pay expenses incurred in connection with the eradication of rabies, the rabies treatment and eradication fund is continued in existence in each county or city in this state.

All money collected for dog license taxes shall be deposited to the credit of this fund with the treasurer of the county or city; but funds now collected from any dog tax may continue to be collected and used for other purposes specified by local ordinances.

Upon the determination by the department that rabies exists in any county or city, a special dog license tax shall immediately become effective, unless a dog tax is already in force the funds from which are available for the payment of expenditures in accordance with this chapter.

This tax shall be levied as follows: An annual tax of one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) for each male, two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) for each female, and one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) for each neuter dog. It shall be collected by the proper authority at the same time and in the same manner as other taxes are collected; except that at the first collection the proportion of the annual tax as corresponds to the number of months the tax has been in operation plus one year advance payment shall be collected.

After this dog license tax has been established in a county or city, it shall be continued in force until an order has been issued by the department declaring that county, or the portion of that county as may be deemed advisable, to be free from rabies or further danger of its spread.

One half of all fines collected by any court or judge for violations of this chapter shall be placed to the credit of the rabies treatment and eradication fund of the county or city where the violation occurred.

Whenever it becomes necessary in the judgment of the department, to enforce this chapter in any county or city, the department may institute special measures of control to supplement the efforts of the local authorities in any county or city whose duties are specified in this chapter.

All expenditures incurred in enforcing the special measures shall be proper charges against the special fund referred to in this chapter, and shall be paid as they accrue by the proper authorities of each county or city where they have been incurred; but all expenditures that may be incurred after the issuance of the order establishing the tax and before the first collection of the tax, shall be paid as they accrue from the general fund of the county or city.

All expenditures in excess of the balance of money in this fund shall likewise be paid as they accrue from the general fund. All money thus expended from the general fund shall be repaid from the special fund when the collections from the tax have provided the money.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter a guide dog serving a blind master shall not be quarantined, in the absence of evidence that he or she has been exposed to rabies, unless his or her master fails:
  (a) To keep him or her safely confined to the premises of the master.
  (b) To keep him or her available for examination at all reasonable times.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a dog used by any state, county, city, or city and county law enforcement agency shall not be quarantined after biting any person if the bite occurred while the dog was being used for any law enforcement purpose. The law enforcement agency shall make the dog available for examination at any reasonable time. The law enforcement agency shall notify the local health officer if the dog exhibits any abnormal behavior.

In rabies areas, all of the following shall apply:
  (a) Every dog owner, after his or her dog attains the age of four months, shall no less than once every two years secure a license for the dog as provided by ordinance of the responsible city, city and county, or county. License fees shall be fixed by the responsible city, city and county, or county, at an amount not to exceed limitations otherwise prescribed by state law or city, city and county, or county charter.
  (b) (1) Every dog owner, after his or her dog attains the age of three months or older, shall, at intervals of time not more often than once a year, as may be prescribed by the department, procure its vaccination by a licensed veterinarian with a canine antirabies vaccine approved by the department and administered according to the vaccine label, unless a licensed veterinarian determines, on an annual basis, that a rabies vaccination would endanger the dog's life due to disease or other considerations that the veterinarian can verify and document. The responsible city, county, or city and county may specify the means by which the dog owner is required to provide proof of his or her dog's rabies vaccination, including, but not limited to, by electronic transmission or facsimile.
  (2) A request for an exemption from the requirements of this subdivision shall be submitted on an approved form developed by the department and shall include a signed statement by the veterinarian explaining the inadvisability of the vaccination and a signed statement by the dog owner affirming that the owner understands the consequences and accepts all liability associated with owning a dog that has not received the canine antirabies vaccine. The request shall be submitted to the local health officer, who may issue an exemption from the canine antirabies vaccine.
  (3) The local health officer shall report exemptions issued pursuant to this subdivision to the department.
  (4) A dog that is exempt from the vaccination requirements of this section shall be considered unvaccinated.
  (5) A dog that is exempt from the vaccination requirements of this section shall, at the discretion of the local health officer or the officer's designee, be confined to the premises of the owner, keeper, or harborer and, when off the premises, shall be on a leash the length of which shall not exceed six feet and shall be under the direct physical control of an adult. A dog that is exempt from the provisions of this section shall not have contact with a dog or cat that is not currently vaccinated against rabies.
  (c) All dogs under four months of age shall be confined to the premises of, or kept under physical restraint by, the owner, keeper, or harborer. Nothing in this chapter and Section 120435 shall be construed to prevent the sale or transportation of a puppy four months old or younger.
  (d) A dog in violation of this chapter and any additional provisions that may be prescribed by a local governing body shall be impounded, as provided by local ordinance.
  (e) The governing body of each city, city and county, or county shall maintain or provide for the maintenance of a pound system and a rabies control program for the purpose of carrying out and enforcing this section.
  (f) (1) Each city, county, or city and county shall provide dog vaccination clinics, or arrange for dog vaccination at clinics operated by veterinary groups or associations, held at strategic locations throughout each city, city and county, or county. The vaccination and licensing procedures may be combined as a single operation in the clinics. No charge in excess of the actual cost shall be made for any one vaccination at a clinic. No owner of a dog shall be required to have his or her dog vaccinated at a public clinic if the owner elects to have the dog vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian of the owner's choice.
  (2) All public clinics shall be required to operate under antiseptic immunization conditions comparable to those used in the vaccination of human beings.
  (g) In addition to the authority provided in subdivision (a), the ordinance of the responsible city, city and county, or county may provide for the issuance of a license for a period not to exceed three years for dogs that have attained the age of 12 months or older and have been vaccinated against rabies or one year for dogs exempted from the vaccination requirement pursuant to subdivision (b). The person to whom the license is issued pursuant to this subdivision may choose a license period as established by the governing body of up to one, two, or three years. However, when issuing a license pursuant to this subdivision, the license period shall not extend beyond the remaining period of validity for the current rabies vaccination and, if a dog is exempted from the vaccination requirement pursuant to subdivision (b), the license period shall not extend beyond one year. A dog owner who complies with this subdivision shall be deemed to have complied with the requirements of subdivision (a).
  (h) All information obtained from a dog owner by compliance with this chapter is confidential to the dog owner and proprietary to the veterinarian. This information shall not be used, distributed, or released for any purpose, except to ensure compliance with existing federal, state, county, or city laws or regulations.

Nothing in this chapter and Section 120435 is intended or shall be construed to limit the power of any city, city and county, or county in its authority in the exercise of its police power or in the exercise of its power under any other provisions of law to enact more stringent requirements, to regulate and control dogs within the boundaries of its jurisdiction.

Rabies vaccines for animal use shall not be supplied to other than a veterinary biologic supply firm, a person licensed to practice veterinary medicine under Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 4800) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, or a public agency.

Any person who willfully conceals information about the location or ownership of an animal subject to rabies, that has bitten or otherwise exposed a person to rabies, with the intent to prevent the quarantine or isolation of that animal by the local health officer is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Any person who, after notice, violates any order of a local health officer concerning the isolation or quarantine of an animal of a species subject to rabies, that has bitten or otherwise exposed a person to rabies or who, after that order, fails to produce the animal upon demand of the local health officer, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed one year, or by fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100), nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day of violation, or by both fine and imprisonment.