§ 18.2-313.1 Withholding information about possibly rabid animal; penalty
It shall be unlawful for any person to (i) knowingly withhold information from, or knowingly give false information to, any lawfully authorized governmental agent which would reasonably lead to the discovery or location and capture of any animal reasonably identifiable as one that has potentially exposed a human being to rabies; (ii) upon the request of an animal control officer, a law-enforcement officer, or an official of the Department of Health, willfully fail to grant access to any animal owned, harbored, or kept by that person that is suspected of having caused a rabies exposure to a human being; or (iii) upon notice by an animal control officer, a law-enforcement officer, or an official of the Department of Health, willfully fail to comply with a confinement, isolation, or quarantine order. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
History
This law was first created in 1989. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 491 of that year’s edition of “Acts of Assembly,” the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1989 “Acts” aren’t available online. It has been modified 1 time. Those modifications are cataloged by “The Acts of Assembly,” a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly’s website will be linked accordingly. That modification is as follows: in 2010, chapter 834.
1989, c. 491; 2010, c. 834.