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the prevalence of rabies in the State, the Director of the Bureau | | of Health within the Department of Human Services shall | | periodically advise the department of the importance of including | | these materials as a component of health and safety instruction | | mandated under section 4711. |
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| | | Sec. 6. 22 MRSA §1313, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 468, §23, is | | amended to read: |
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| | | 1. Establishment of procedures. The commissioner, in | | consultation with the Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural | | Resources and the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife | | shall adopt rules, in accordance with the Maine Administrative | | Procedure Act, establishing procedures for responding to a report | | of an animal suspected of having rabies. The procedures must | | include provisions for the transportation, quarantine, euthanasia | | and testing of an animal suspected of having rabies and, when | | that animal has bitten a person, provisions for the notification | | of the animal control officer in the locality where the bite | | occurred. The procedures may differ based on the perceived | | public health threat determined in part by consideration of the | | following factors: |
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| | | A. Whether the animal is a domesticated animal for which a | | known effective vaccine exists and, if so, can the animal's | | vaccination status be verified; and |
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| | | B. Whether the animal has bitten a person or exhibited | | other aggressive behavior. |
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| | | This bill amends the provisions regarding dangerous dogs to | | extend the period during which a complaint of assault may be made | | from 10 to 90 days after the attack. It removes the restriction | | that the assault must be unprovoked when the person assaulted is | | a child 12 years of age or younger. It increases the maximum | | fine for a violation of the dangerous dog statutes from $100 to | | $1,000. It requires the officer filing a complaint of a | | dangerous dog to send a copy of the complaint to the Department | | of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources. It allows the officer | | making the complaint to determine where the animal must be | | confined pending the court hearing. |
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| | | This bill directs the Department of Agriculture, Food and | | Rural Resources to collect information regarding assaults by | | dogs, to summarize that information in its annual report to the | | Legislature and provide this information to the Director of the | | Bureau of Health within the Department of Human Services. It |
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