Rabies Ordinance, 1934

RABIES ORDINANCE, 1934 Ordinance Determining Provisions for Prevention of '.he Disease of Rabies Abbreviated Name Definitions (amendment 1955-6, 1990-I, 1991-2) Quarantine 3. Kennels (amendment 1991-2) 1. This ordinance shall be called the Rabies Ordinance, 1934. 2. In this Ordinance, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them, unless the wording shall require another interpretation: "Animal": This shall refer to Cattle, sheep, goats, camels, horses, donkeys, pigs, dogs, cats, monkeys, wild animals from the class Mammalia and any other animal or fowl which the Mnister of Agriculture shall declare in the Official Gazette as included in the term "Animal" for this purpose. "Cattle": This shall refer to bulls, water buffalo, cows, oxen, heifers and calves. "State Medical Officer": This shall refer to a person appointed by the Minister of Health to be a doctor in the Israel Ministry of Health. the "Municipal Inspector": This shall refer to a person appointed by the municipality to serve as an inspector for the purposes of this Ordinance. the "Municipal Veterinarian" - A veterinarian appointed by a local authority with the consent of the Director of Veterinary Services to be a veterinarian of a local authority. "Owner" - This shall refer to any person who is the sole owner, or the owner in conjunction with another, of any Animal, including any person in charge of any Animal; and the Possessor of any place where any Animal is located shall be considered the Owner of that Animal unless otherwise proven. "Stock Inspector" - This shall refer to a person appointed by the Mnister of Agriculture as a Stock Inspector of the Government of Israel. "State Veterinary Officer" - This shall refer to a veterinarian appointed by the Minister of Agriculture to be a State Veterinary Offic1er. Upon the recommendation of the Director of Veterinary Services, the District Officer may require any local authority to prepare a place for the quarantine of dogs, cats and monkeys (hereinafter: "Quarantine Kennels"). For the purposes of this Ordinance, said kennels shall be constructed according to diagrams and detailed plans to be approved by the Director of Veterinary Services. Quarantine of 4. Suspected Animals (amendment 1991-2, 1992-3) Quarantine of 4A. Biting Animals. (amendment 1991-92, 1992-93) Application 5. (1) The Owner of an Animal which has bitten a human being must do the following things within 24 hours of having been informed of the incident: (a) Infonn the nearest State Medical Officer or State Veterinary Officer of the fact, and (b) If the biting Animal was a dog, cat or monkey, its Owner must take it to the nearest Quarantine Kennels~ if it was not a dog, cat or monkey, its Owner must detain it in a pen, a barn or another place which shall be approved by a State: Veterinary Officer. (2) Any Animal which has been detained pursuant to the provisions of subsection (I) of this Section shall be quarantined for ten days from the starting date of the detention. (3) At the end of said ten days of quarantine, the State Veterinary Officer or the Municipal Veterinarian, should they determine that the Animal is free of rabies, must do the following things: (a) If the Animal is a dog, cat or monkey- to remove it from the Quarantine Kennels. (b) If it is not a dog, cat or monkey, they shall be rree to remove it from the pen, barn or other place where it was quarantined. (4) Should the Owner of the respective Animal not remove any dog, cat or monkey from the Quarantine Kennels within five days of the end of its detention period, it is permitted to destroy said Animal without thus derogating from the right of the local authority pursuant to tenn (b) of subsection (5) of this Section. (5) The Owner of any dog, cat or monkey which was detained in the Quarantine Kennels shall pay the local authority a fee for the ten days of quarantine in advance, at a rate set by the local authority, in return for feeding, lodging and caring for the Animal, provided that: (a) If the Animal dies during its days of quarantine, no payment shall be charged other than for the number of days in which the Animal was actually detained, and the difference shall be refunded to the Owner; and (b) Should the Owner not remove the dog, cat or monkey from the Quarantine Kennels as provided under letter (a) of subsection (3) of this Section, it must pay the local authority a fee at the rate set by it for the additional period in which the dog, cat or monkey remained in the Quarantine Kennels. (6) No compensation shall be paid for any Animal which was injured or became ill or died while in detention pursuant to the provisions of this Section. Should a State Medical Officer discover that a dog, cat or monkey was in contact with a human being, and should there be a suspicion o:f rabies infection as a result of that contact, the State Medical Officer shall be entitled to instruct the Owner to deliver it to the Quarantine Kennels. Any State Veterinary Officer, State Medical Officer or Stock Inspector is to a Judge to Destroy Known Animals (amendment 1991-2) Quarantine of 6. Abandoned Animals (amendment 1991-2, 1992-3) Destruction 7. of Suspected Animals (amendment 1991-2) entitled to ask a magistrate to issue an order for the destruction, without payment of compensation, of any dog, cat or monkey which has bitten a human being more than once or which, in his/her opinion, has gone mad or is exceptionally liable to become infected and infect others with rabies. Should it transpire to the judge that the dog, cat or monkey has indeed bitten a human being more than once, or that it is of a savage disposition or is excessively liable on any account to contract and transmit rabies, the judge shall issue an order to have it destroyed, and shall b,e entitled, with the consent of the applicant, to issue an order to have th,, dog [sic] handed over for such purposes as the judge shall instruct, inst,ead of issuing an order to have it put to death; no order shall be issue:d pursuant to this Section until the Owner shall have had the opportunity to state its case. (I) Any State Medical Officer, State Veterinary Officer or :rvfunicipal Veterinarian are entitled to require of a local authority that any abandoned dog, cat or monkey which has no Owner and which has bitten a human being be housed in the Quarantine Kennels of said local authority and at its expense. (2) Any Animal which was detained pursuant to the provisions of subsection (1) of this Section shall be quarantined for ten. days. (3) At the end of said ten days of quarantine, said Animal shall be destroyed; provided that, should a person claim, before said Animal is destroyed, that the dog, cat or monkey is his/Ju:r property, the State Veterinary Officer or the Municipal Veterinarian, should said Animal be proven free of rabies,, shall be entitled to hand the Animal over to said person, once said p·erson has paid a fee as set forth in subsection (5) of Section 4 of this Ordinance. (I) A State Veterinary Officer shall order the destruction of any Animal: (a) Which is rabid or suspected of so being, or (b) Which has been bitten by: (I) An Animal which is .rabid or suspected of so being, or (IT) A fox or a hyena or a wolf or a jackal. Provided that, should any Animal suspected of rabies or which was bitten by another suspected animal be of .special value, the State Veterinary Officer shall be entitled ti:> order that the following things be done to the Animal: (1) That it be muzzled when it goes for a walk or to work, with a muzzle of a type to be approved by him/her, and (2) That it be isolated when it is at rest in a place to be approved by him/her, and (3) That, should the flesh of that type of Animal be intended for human consumption, it not be slaughtered for that purpose, and ( 4) That it not be sold. Application of the above: Should the Animal be Destruction ofUnvac cinated Dogs (amendment 1952-3, 1991-2) Dogs in the Public Domain (amendment 1991-2) suspected of rabies, the above restrictions shall apply for six months as of the date which shall be specified in the instruction given by the State Veterinary Officer, as he/she shall see fit to determine; on the other hand, should the Animal have been bitten by a suspected Animal, the restrictions shall apply for six months as of the date of the bite; and should the State Veterinary Officer not order the Animal to be destroyed (and the authority to do so is hereby granted to him/her, should he/she believe that th1~ Animal is rabid) throughout the entire period as stated above, the Animal, on the conclusion of said six months, shall be deemed free of rabies and exempt from all limitations; Provided that any herd beast or camel or sheep or goat which was slaughtered within eight days of the date on which it was bitten by a rabid Animal may be offered for sale for food purposes only, provided that it is free of other diseases. (2) The decision of the State Veterinary Officer as to which Animal is of special value shall be a final decision. 7 A. Any State Veterinary Officer is entitled to destroy any dog agc\d six months or older which has not received a vaccination against rabies pursuant to the regulations enacted pursuant to Section 16. 7B. (a) No Owner shall let a dog out into the public domain unless it is on a leash or chain. (b) A local authority shall determine areas within its confinesi, in which the provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply~ provided that, in said areas, the Owner of the dog shall be with it whenever the dog is not on a leash or chain as stated in subsection (a). ( c) The provisions of subsection (b) shall not apply to areas declared to be infected with rabies. Authority of 8. Known Any district officer, policeman, State Medical Officer, State Veterinary Officer, Municipal Veterinarian, Municipal Inspector or Stock Inspector and any person authorized by them in writing are entitled to enter any land, building, hut, or place in order to ascertain whether the provisions, etc. of this Ordinance have been fulfilled. Should it be ascertained that the provisions of this Ordinance have not been fulfilled, any district clerk, policeman, State Medical Officer, State Veterinary Officer, Municipal Veterinarian, Municipal Inspector or Stock Inspector and any person authorized by them in writing are entitled to do whatever is necessary as they shall see fit, in order to enforce the provisions of this Ordinance, without derogating from any penalty which is to be imposed pursuant to the provisions of Section 12 of this Ordinance. Officials, etc. (amendment 1991-2) Especially, any district officer, policeman, State Medical Officer, State Declaration 9. of Infected Areas (amendment 1991-2) Veterinary Officer, Municipal Veterinarian, Municipal Inspector or Stock Inspector and any person authorized by them in writing are entitled to enter any land, building, hut, or place in order to seize or cause: the seizure of any dog, cat or monkey which has bitten any human being, and themselves to take it or to cause it to be taken to the closest Quarantine Kennel. The Director of Veterinary Services is entitled, by means of a notice which he/she shall publish in the Official Gazette, to declare any area infected with rabies, and the following provisions shall apply to any such area until the notice is canceled: (a) If the area is an urban area: (I) A dog Owner must observe all of the following: (1) Keep his/her dog on his/her own premises. (2) Muzzle the dog's mouth and keep it on a leash or chain of a length not exceeding 2 meters whenever .it is taken off the premises. (II) The State Veterinary Officer must order that the following be put to death: (I) Any dog in the public domain without a muzzle on its mouth. (2) Any dog which does not have a license, iflice:nses are required for dogs by virtue of any by-law or regulations or other legislation in force in said area. (3) Any dog, cat or monkey which was bitten at any time not more than six months prior to the date of the notice declaring the area as an area infected with rabies. (b) If the area is not an urban area: (I) Dog Owners are required to keep their dogs permanently tied up, provided that shepherd ·dogs are not required to be tied up except in the hours between sunset and sunrise, and (II) Without permission from the State Veterinary Office:r, no resident may keep more than one dog, and no sheph,~rd may keep, without said permission. more than two dogs for each herd of cattle or sheep, and no dog shall be deemed a shepherd dog in connection with a herd of cattle or sheep unless it accompanies the herd. All other dogs shall be put to death; Provided that any person who possesses a kennel for the breeding of purebred dogs or hunting dogs shall be exempted from the provisions of this Section. according to terms which shall be set by the Director of Veterinary Services. Destruction of Abandoned Animals (amendment 1991-2) Duty of Local Authority (amendment 1991-2) Penalties Defense for Actions Committed in Good Faith Compensa tion Not to Be Paid Destruction of Beasts (amendment 1991-2) Regulations (amendment 1991-2, 1992-3) 10. (1) A State Veterinary Officer is entitled to order, at any time, that the following animals in any area be put to death, following the proper giving of notice by the district officer to the residents of the area, obligating them to keep their dogs tied up on their own premises during the hours and times set forth in said notice: (a) Any abandoned dog or neglected dog or ownerless dog; and (b) If the area includes any part in which dogs require licenses by virtue of any by-law or regulations or other legislation in force in said area - any dog which does not have a license. (2) For the purposes of subsection (1 ), any dog which is not tied up to its owner's premises shall be deemed an abandoned dog or neglected dog or ownerless dog. 11. Each local authority must keep the ledgers required by the Dire:ctor of Veterinary Services for the purpose of the Ordinance, and must send or give reports, lists and information as the Director of Veterinary Services shall require. 12. Whoever does not comply with the provisions of this Ordinance or any regulation to be enacted in accordance herewith, or with the provisions of any order or instruction duly given pursuant to this Ordinance or any regulation to be enacted in accordance herewith, shall be liable, if found guilty, to imprisonment for a period of not more than six months or a fine not to exceed one hundred Israel Pounds, or both penalties cumulatively. 13. The Government of Israel is not to be put on trial, and no civil or criminal liability is to be imposed on any Government clerk or 01:her person authorized to implement the provisions of this Ordinance: or the provisions of any regulation enacted in accordance herewith or any ord·er duly given pursuant to this Ordinance or to any regulation enact,ed in accordance herewith, for any action committed in good faith. 14. No compensation shall be paid in respect of a beast put to death pursuant to the provisions of this Ordinance. 15. Any beast put to death pursuant to the provisions of this Ordinance shall be put to death by such means as the State Veterinary Officer shall instruct. 16. (a) The Minister of Agriculture is entitled to enact regulations aimed at preventing the spread of rabies, and to validate the objectives of this Ordinance, including the obligation to vaccinate Animals or any type of Animals against rabies, and arranging for permanent or temporary marking of Animals. (b) The Minister of Agriculture is entitled, upon consultation ·with the Minister of the Interior and with the approval of the Knesset Duty of Known Persons to Assist in the Implementa tion of the Provisions of this Ordinance (amendment 1991-2) Finance Committee, to enact regulations setting fees for dog licenses issued by a local authority and for vaccinations, transportation and quarantine; fees set by means of regulations as stated shall apply throughout the confines of any local authority unless the local authority has set lower fees. (c) Vaccination in accordance with that stated in subsection (a) shall be perfonned by a State Veterinary Officer or a Murucipal Veterinarian; the Minister of Agriculture shall be entitled, in regulations, to arrange for the authorization of other veterinarians to perfonn the vaccination, should he/she see fit. 17. It is the duty of any local authority, of heads of villages, and of sheikhs of tribes, each in his own area, to assist any clerk of the Government of Israel in implementing the provisions of this Ordinance and ar:y regulations to be enacted according therewith,