37 Relating to: an exception for law enforcement dogs to the requirement that a dog that bites a person be quarantined.

Date of enactment: December 11, 2007
2007 Assembly Bill 52 Date of publication*: December 24, 2007

* Section 991.11, Wisconsin Statutes 2005-06 : Effective date of acts. "Every act and every portion of an act enacted by the legislature over the governor's partial veto which does not expressly prescribe the time when it takes effect shall take effect on the day after its date of publication as designated" by the secretary of state [the date of publication may not be more than 10 working days after the date of enactment].

2007 WISCONSIN ACT 37

An Act to amend 95.21 (4) (a); and to create 95.21 (4) (d) of the statutes; relating to: an exception for law enforcement dogs to the requirement that a dog that bites a person be quarantined.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

Section 1 . 95.21 (4) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

95.21 (4) (a) Quarantine or sacrifice of dog or cat. An Except as provided in par. (d), an officer shall order a dog or cat quarantined if the officer has reason to believe that the animal bit a person, is infected with rabies or has been in contact with a rabid animal. If a quarantine cannot be imposed because the dog or cat cannot be captured, the officer may kill the animal. The officer may kill a dog or cat only as a last resort or if the owner agrees. The officer shall attempt to kill the animal in a humane manner and in a manner which avoids damage to the animal's head.

Section 2 . 95.21 (4) (d) of the statutes is created to read:

95.21 (4) (d) Exception for law enforcement dogs. 1. In this paragraph, "law enforcement agency" has the meaning given in s. 165.83 (1) (b).

2. The quarantine requirement in par. (a) does not apply to a dog that is used by a law enforcement agency and that bites a person while the dog is performing law enforcement functions if the dog is immunized against rabies as evidenced by a valid certificate of rabies vaccination or other evidence. The law enforcement agency shall have the dog examined by a veterinarian on the day of the incident or the next day, on the 10th day after the incident, and on one intervening day. The law enforcement agency shall ensure that the dog is confined when not performing law enforcement functions until the 3rd examination has been performed.