1. The department, or an agency acting on the department's behalf, may seize and euthanize, impound at the owner's expense, or quarantine any animal if the state health officer, or the state health officer's designee, has probable cause to believe the animal presents clinical signs of rabies.
2. The department, or an agency acting on the department's behalf, may promptly seize and euthanize, impound at the owner's expense, or quarantine any wild animal if the state health officer, or the state health officer's designee, determines the animal is a threat to human life or safety due to the possible exposure of another animal or an individual to rabies.
3. For domestic animals, the department may seize and quarantine or confine and observe an animal if the animal has bitten or otherwise exposed an individual or has been bitten or otherwise exposed to rabies or suspect rabies and the owner is unwilling or unable to comply with the department's recommendations. The department may seize and euthanize an animal if the animal has bitten or otherwise exposed an individual and is exhibiting signs of rabies, as diagnosed by a veterinarian. The department may seize, euthanize, or quarantine an animal if the animal was exposed to rabies or suspect rabies and never has been vaccinated against rabies and the owner is unwilling or unable to comply with the department's recommendations.
4. If an animal had died or is killed and there is a possible exposure of another animal or an individual to rabies, then at the request of the state health officer, or the state health officer's designee, the animal's brain must be tested for rabies by the department or by the North Dakota veterinary diagnostic laboratory. The department may seek a diagnosis of rabies for farm animals, domestic animals, and wildlife that are suspected of having rabies and report findings as appropriate.
5. If an animal that has bitten or otherwise exposed an individual or another animal is not seized for testing, a law enforcement officer with jurisdiction over the place where the animal is located may determine whether to impound or quarantine the animal under subsection 2 and which method of confinement to use.
6. A licensed veterinarian shall examine, at the owner's expense, a confined animal, at the request of the department, a local public health unit, or a law enforcement officer with jurisdiction over the place where the animal is located.
Credits
S.L. 1999, ch. 243, § 1; S.L. 2009, ch. 160, § 2, eff. Aug. 1, 2009; S.L. 2019, ch. 212 (S.B. 2092), § 2, eff. Aug. 1, 2019.