Chapter 6.03
RABIES CONTROL
Sections:
6.03.020 Notice of rabies hazard – Quarantine period.
6.03.030 Violation of quarantine.
6.03.040 Euthanizing of infected animals.
6.03.010 Quarantine order.
(1) Whenever the director of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health has cause to suspect that an animal capable of transmitting rabies is infected with the disease, the director shall order a period of quarantine of not less than 10 days.
(2) The director shall notify in writing the owner or keeper of the infected animal of the quarantine order.
(3) The infected animal shall be quarantined by the regional animal services section in its shelter or upon the premises of the owner or licensed veterinarian where conditions of quarantine are strictly kept. The place of quarantine shall be at the discretion of the director, unless the animal had been exposed to rabies by contact, in which case WMC 6.03.040 shall apply.
(4) Delivery of a copy of the quarantine order to some person of suitable age and discretion residing upon the premises where the animal is found shall be notice of the quarantine. Good cause for such an order of quarantine shall include, but is not limited to, evidence that the animal has bitten, or that there is reasonable certainty that the animal has bitten, a human being.
(5) During the period of quarantine, the officers, agents and employees of the regional animal services section, and other police officers, are authorized to enter any premises for the purpose of apprehending any such an animal and impounding the animal, except where the animal is kept upon the premises of the owner or licensed veterinarian as provided in this section. (Ord. 658 § 2 (Att. A), 2021)
6.03.020 Notice of rabies hazard – Quarantine period.
(1) Whenever the director of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health determines that rabies is currently a hazard to the public health in King County, or any part thereof, incorporated or unincorporated, excepting cities of the first class, by reason of the fact that a case of rabies has been diagnosed in any canine or feline animal, the director shall cause a notice of the hazard to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the area for three successive days, which determination and notice shall declare the quarantine period and area.
(2) The quarantine period shall be 30 days after the last publication of notice; and it is a misdemeanor and is unlawful for any owner, or person entitled to custody of such an animal, to keep or harbor any animal capable of transmitting rabies unless securely confined by a leash or tight enclosure from which it cannot escape.
(3) Any animal capable of transmitting rabies found running at large during such a period shall be impounded and euthanized by order of the director of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health or the director’s agent.
(4) If apprehension and impounding by safe means is not possible, the animal may be euthanized summarily by the agent.
(5) The director of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health may extend any such a quarantine period if deemed necessary by like additional determinations and notices. (Ord. 658 § 2 (Att. A), 2021)
6.03.030 Violation of quarantine.
It is a misdemeanor and is unlawful for any owner or person charged with the custody of any animal subject to a quarantine defined in WMC 6.03.010 and 6.03.020 to permit any such animal to come in contact with any other animal or person or to run at large or to be removed from any quarantine premises without the consent of the director of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health. (Ord. 658 § 2 (Att. A), 2021)
6.03.040 Euthanizing of infected animals.
Any animal bitten by an animal found to be rabid by appropriate laboratory tests shall be euthanized by order of the director of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health. (Ord. 658 § 2 (Att. A), 2021)
6.03.050 Vaccination order.
Whenever the director of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health by order published in a newspaper of general circulation in the area for three successive days determines that conditions exist as indicated in WMC 6.03.020 in a specified area wherein it is necessary for the protection of the public health that animals capable of transmitting rabies be vaccinated within 30 days with anti-rabies vaccine, the director shall order that all such animals four months old or older be so vaccinated or euthanized at the option of the owner or keeper, and it is a misdemeanor and is unlawful for any owner, or person charged with the custody of such an animal, to fail or refuse to procure the vaccination within the specified time. (Ord. 658 § 2 (Att. A), 2021)
6.03.060 Enforcement.
The director of the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health is authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the ordinances and resolutions codified in it, and any rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. (Ord. 658 § 2 (Att. A), 2021)