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A RULE AND REGULATION amending the rabies vaccination requirements for dogs, cats, ferrets and livestock; amending R&R 04-01, Section 2 (part), as amended, and BOH 8.04.003, R&R 04-01, Section 2 (part), as amended, and BOH 8.04.005 and R&R 30, Section 4, as amended, and BOH 8.04.040; enacted pursuant to RCW 70.05.060, including the latest amendments or revisions thereto.
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BE IT ADOPTED BY THE KING COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH:
SECTION 1. R&R 04-01, Section 2 (part), as amended, and BOH 8.04.003 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
Definitions.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
A. "Animal control authority" means the county or municipal animal control agency, acting alone or in concert with other municipalities, having authority for the enforcement of the animal control laws, ordinances or regulations of the state, county or municipality, and the shelter and welfare of animals.
B. "Caretaker" means the owner or any person authorized by the owner to provide daily management of an animal, including but not limited to maintaining the animal in a controlled or confined manner in accordance with applicable statutes and regulations, and providing the animal with food, water, shelter, sanitary services and health care as required.
C. "Cat" means an animal of the species Felis domesticus, and excludes felid hybrid animals.
D. "Confine" means to keep the animal under the owner's or caretaker's control and ensure the animal does not come into contact with people or animals outside of the owner's or caretaker's household.
E. "Dog" means an animal of the species Canis familiaris and excludes canid hybrid animals.
((E.)) F. "Euthanize" means to humanely destroy an animal by a method that involves instantaneous unconsciousness and immediate death or by a method that causes painless loss of consciousness and death during the loss of consciousness.
((F.)) G. "Exposed to a suspected or confirmed rabid animal" or "suspected rabies exposure" includes probable or suspected contact with saliva through a bite, through an open cut in skin or onto mucous membranes.
((G.)) H. "Ferret" means an animal of the species Mustela furo.
((H.)) I. "Livestock" means farm animals, excluding birds, raised for food or fiber production or kept for recreational purposes, including but not limited to horses, donkeys, mules, cattle, sheep, llamas, alpacas, goats and pigs.
((I.)) J. "Mammal" means any of a class of warm-blooded vertebrate animals that nourish their young with milk secreted by mammary glands and have skin generally covered with hair, and includes bats.
((J.)) K. "Owner" means any person responsible for the care and actions of an animal.
((K.)) L. "Terrestrial rabies" means rabies occurring in mammals that primarily live on the ground, such as raccoons, skunks, bobcats, foxes or coyotes.
SECTION 2. R&R 04-01, Section 2 (part), as amended, and BOH 8.04.005 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
Rabies vaccination required.
A. An owner of a dog, cat or ferret shall have the animal vaccinated against rabies by four months of age, and revaccinated on a schedule according to the type of vaccine used, as determined by a licensed veterinarian and vaccine manufacturer instructions.
B. An owner of livestock having frequent contact with humans other than its owner and caretaker, including, but not limited to an animal exhibited to the public at a petting zoo, fair or other location or event, shall have the livestock evaluated by a licensed veterinarian and vaccinated against rabies if the veterinarian recommends the vaccination.
C. All rabies vaccinations shall be performed by or under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian in accordance with the standards contained in the Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control, ((2011)) 2016, published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, Inc.
SECTION 3. R&R 30, Section 4, as amended, and BOH 8.04.040 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
Management of animals exposed to suspected or confirmed rabid animals.
A. Any mammal exposed to a suspected or confirmed rabid animal is subject to the requirements of this section, as applicable. For the purposes of this section, an animal suspected of being rabid includes any bat unavailable for rabies testing, any wild, mammalian carnivore exhibiting clinical or behavioral signs suggestive of rabies that is unavailable for rabies testing or any wild, mammalian carnivore from a geographic area with terrestrial rabies.
B. The director may order that any unvaccinated dog, cat or ferret exposed to a suspected or confirmed rabid animal be euthanized immediately or placed in isolation, at the option of the owner of the animal. If isolation is chosen, the owner or caretaker of the exposed animal shall have the animal vaccinated immediately with rabies vaccine and placed at a location and under conditions approved by the director((, for not less than one hundred eighty days from the date of rabies exposure as determined by the director, and vaccinated with rabies vaccine either upon entry into isolation or up to twenty-eight days before release)). The isolation period for an exposed, unvaccinated dog or cat shall be not less than four months from the date of rabies exposure as determined by the director, and the isolation period for an exposed, unvaccinated ferret shall be not less than six months from the date of exposure as determined by the director. At the end of the isolation period, the director may require the owner or caretaker of the animal to have the animal evaluated by a licensed veterinarian for signs of rabies and to submit to the director a written report prepared by the veterinarian as to the animal's health status. Any person observing signs suggestive of rabies at any time during ((or at the end of)) the isolation period shall report or have a licensed veterinarian report the signs immediately to the director, who may order that the animal be euthanized and tested for rabies virus. For the purposes of this subsection, "isolation" means confinement in an enclosure that precludes direct contact with people and other animals.
C. The director may order the owner or caretaker of any currently vaccinated dog, cat or ferret exposed to a suspected or confirmed rabid animal to have the dog, cat or ferret revaccinated immediately with rabies vaccine, and kept confined for not less than forty-five days for observation. Any person observing signs suggestive of rabies at any time during ((or at the end of)) the confinement period shall report or have a licensed veterinarian report such signs immediately to the director, who may order that such animal be euthanized and tested for rabies virus. The director may determine the management of ((dogs, cats and)) ferrets with expired rabies vaccinations on a case-by-case basis.
D. The director may order the owner or caretaker of any dog or cat overdue for a rabies vaccination and exposed to a suspected or confirmed rabid animal to have the dog or cat revaccinated immediately with rabies vaccine and kept confined for observation. Any person observing signs suggestive of rabies at any time during the confinement period shall report or have a licensed veterinarian report such signs immediately to the director, who may order that such animal be euthanized and tested for rabies virus. If the director orders confinement, the confinement period shall be not less than four months from the date of suspected or confirmed rabies exposure as determined by the director, except that the confinement period may be less than four months but not less than forty-five days if:
1. The owner or caretaker of the dog or cat submits documentation, to the satisfaction of the director, that the dog or cat previously received a rabies vaccine licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture; or
2. The attending veterinarian submits documentation, to the satisfaction of the director, that prospective serologic monitoring of paired blood samples demonstrates an adequate anamnestic response to booster vaccination and enables the director to consider the dog or cat to have previously received a rabies vaccination. The attending veterinarian must notify the director and initiate the prospective serologic monitoring within ninety-six hours of the exposure, and perform the monitoring in accordance with protocols approved by the director.
E. The director may order the owner or caretaker of any unvaccinated livestock that has been exposed to a suspected or confirmed rabid animal to have such livestock immediately euthanized or kept under confinement and observation for not less than ((one hundred eighty days)) six months from the date of rabies exposure as determined by the director, at the option of the owner of the livestock. The owner or caretaker of livestock that has been exposed to a suspected or confirmed rabid animal and currently vaccinated with a vaccine ((approved)) licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture for that species shall have the livestock revaccinated against rabies immediately and observed for not less than forty-five days. The director may determine the management of livestock with expired rabies vaccinations on a case-by-case basis.
((E)) F. The director may order that mammals, other than dogs, cats, ferrets and livestock, exposed to a suspected or confirmed rabid animal be euthanized immediately.
SECTION 4. Severability. If any provision of this rule or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the rule or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.