GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1989 SESSION

CHAPTER 298
HOUSE BILL 1078

AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT POLICE DOGS WHO HAVE BITTEN A PERSON SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM CONFINEMENT REQUIREMENTS IF THE DOG'S RABIES VACCINATIONS ARE CURRENT.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 130A-196 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-196.  Confinement of all biting dogs and cats; notice to local health director; reports by physicians; certain dogs exempt.
When a person has been bitten by a dog or cat, the person or parent, guardian or person standing in loco parentis of the person, and the person owning the animal or in control or possession of the animal shall notify the local health director immediately and give the name and address of the person bitten and the owner of the animal.  All dogs and cats that bite a person shall be immediately confined for 10 days in a place designated by the local health director.  However, the local health director may authorize a dog trained and used by a law enforcement agency to be released from confinement to perform official duties upon submission of proof that the dog has been vaccinated for rabies in compliance with this Part.  After reviewing the circumstances of the particular case, the local health director may allow the owner to confine the animal on the owner's property.  An owner who fails to confine his animal in accordance with the instructions of the local health director shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00), imprisonment for six months, or both.  If the owner or the person who controls or possesses a dog or cat that has bitten a person refuses to confine the animal as required by this section, the local health director may order seizure of the animal and its confinement for 10 days at the expense of the owner.  A physician who attends a person bitten by an animal known to be a potential carrier of rabies shall report within 24 hours to the local health director the name, age and sex of that person."
Sec. 2.  This act is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 12th day of June, 1989.