(a) Whenever the rabies officer or the health officer shall receive information that a human being has been bitten or exposed by a dog or cat required to be immunized against rabies, the health officer or his authorized agent shall cause said dog or cat to be placed in quarantine under the direct supervision of a duly licensed veterinarian for rabies observation as prescribed in Section 3-7A-1. It shall be unlawful for any person having knowledge that a human being has been bitten or exposed by a dog or cat to fail to notify one or more of the aforementioned officers.
(b) When said dog or cat is unowned, as determined by the rabies officer or the health officer after reasonable investigation, or where the owner of a dog or cat agrees in writing, or when ordered by the health officer, the animal shall be humanely destroyed immediately after the exposure and the head shall be submitted for rabies examination to the state health department laboratory.
(c) The period of quarantine for animals other than domesticated dogs and cats which have bitten or exposed a human being shall be determined by the Alabama Department of Public Health upon consultation with the U.S. Public Health Service. Provided, however, for those animal species where reliable epidemiologic data are lacking regarding duration of rabies virus secretion from the salivary glands, said animals shall be humanely destroyed and the head submitted for rabies examination to the state health department laboratory.
(d) It shall be a violation of this chapter for the owner of such animal to refuse to comply with the lawful order of the health officer in any particular case. It is unlawful for the owner to sell, give away, transfer to another location or otherwise dispose of any such animal that is known to have bitten or exposed a human being until it is released from quarantine by the rabies officer, duly licensed veterinarian or by the appropriate health officer.
(e) Instructions for the quarantine of the offending animal shall be delivered in person or by telephone to the owner by the health officer or his authorized agent. If such instructions cannot be delivered in such manner, they shall be mailed by regular mail, postage prepaid and addressed to the owner of the animal. The affidavit or testimony of the health officer or his authorized agent, who delivers or mails such instructions, shall be prima facie evidence of the receipt of such instructions by the owner of the animal. Any expenses incurred in the quarantine of the offending animal under this section and Section 3-7A-8 shall be borne by the owner.
(f) The veterinarian under whose care the offending animal has been committed for quarantine shall promptly report the results of his observation of said animal to the attending physician of the human being bitten or exposed and the appropriate health officer.
(g) Canine corps dogs and seeing eye dogs shall be exempt from the quarantine period where such exposure occurs in the line of duty and evidence of proper immunization against rabies is presented, but shall be examined immediately at the end of 10 days by a licensed veterinarian, who shall report the results of his examination to the appropriate health officer as previously authorized.
Those domesticated species, for which antirabies vaccine is recognized and recommended, upon exposure or potential exposure to a known rabid animal, shall be humanely destroyed or slaughtered immediately. Provided, however, the owner may have the option of quarantining said animals based on the recommendations of the Alabama Department of Public Health upon consultation with the U.S. Public Health Service.
(a) It shall be the responsibility of the county board of health to nominate annually one duly licensed veterinarian from each county within the state for the position of rabies officer. Applications for this position may be received from any duly licensed veterinarian residing within the county, or in the event that no applications are received, from the Alabama Veterinary Medical Association. Said applications shall be provided to the chairman of each county board of health during the month of November. It shall be the responsibility of the county board of health, within or prior to the month of January of the appointing year, to select and appoint a nominee, subject to the approval of the State Health Officer and the State Veterinarian. The appointee's term of office shall expire on December 31 of the year of appointment; provided, however, that he shall be eligible for reappointment. The rabies officer may be removed from office, for cause, by the county board of health or the State Health Officer.
(b) Appointments not made within the prescribed time limits specified in this section shall become the joint prerogative of the State Health Officer and the State Veterinarian after due consultation with the appropriate health officer.
(c) For the purpose of providing proper enforcement of this chapter, the county board of health is hereby invested with general supervisory and administrative authority for the implementation of this chapter. It shall be the duty of the rabies officer to immunize for rabies all dogs and cats covered under the provisions of this chapter and he may employ as many licensed veterinarians to serve as deputies to aid him as he may desire. The rabies officer and his deputies in each county are clothed with limited police powers to the extent that they may issue citations for violations of this chapter as an agent of the county board of health, and shall not be subject to the limitations of Section 36- 21-50. The sheriff and his deputies in each county and the police officers in each incorporated municipality shall be aides, and are hereby instructed to cooperate with said rabies officer in carrying out the provisions of this chapter. The compensation of the rabies officer and his deputies shall be limited to the fees collected from enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.
Any person violating or aiding or abetting the violation of any provision of this chapter, or counterfeiting or forging any certificate or tag, or making any misrepresentation in regard to any matter prescribed by this chapter or rule promulgated hereunder or except as otherwise provided, or resisting, obstructing, or impeding any authorized officer in enforcing the provisions of this chapter, or refusing to produce for immunization any animal in his possession for which antirabies vaccine is recognized and recommended, or for failing to report an animal bite, shall be charged with a Class C misdemeanor, and for the purpose of enforcing this chapter, shall be fined not less than $25.00 nor more than $100.00, and for the purpose of enforcing this chapter, resort may be had to any court of competent jurisdiction.
(a) The State Health Officer, upon request of authorized local officials, may place certain areas of the state under a rabies quarantine to prevent the spread of rabies. In extreme situations, the State Health Officer may place the area under quarantine without waiting for local request.
(b) Whenever the State Health Officer or local health authorities are convinced that the situation is conducive to the spread of rabies, additional measures may be imposed as are deemed necessary to prevent the spread of rabies among dogs, cats, and other animals.
Nothing in this chapter shall be held to limit in any manner the power of any municipality to prohibit dogs or cats from running at large, regardless of rabies immunization status as herein provided; nor shall anything in this chapter be construed, in any manner, to limit the power of any municipality to further control and regulate dogs or cats in such municipality.
The State Board of Health is authorized to adopt and promulgate rules for the enforcement of this chapter, which rules shall have the force and effect of law.
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, it shall be illegal to own, maintain, sell, or trade any canidae or felidae for which there is no USDA licensed rabies vaccine. Anyone currently owning or maintaining such animal may keep the animal for the length of the animal's life providing the animal is spayed or neutered and is registered with the Department of Agriculture and Industries. This section does not apply to any zoological parks, circuses, colleges, and universities, animal refuges approved by the Department of Agriculture and Industries, county or municipal humane shelters, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, or veterinary clinics.