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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>76121</law_id><section_number>18.2-313.1</section_number><catch_line>Withholding information about possibly rabid animal; penalty</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="18.2">Crimes and Offenses Generally</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="7">Crimes Involving Health and Safety</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="8">Miscellaneous Dangerous Conduct</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>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 <span class="dictionary">discovery</span> 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 <span class="dictionary">law</span>-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 <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement officer, or an official of the Department of Health, willfully fail to comply with a confinement, isolation, or quarantine <span class="dictionary">order</span>.
		Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 <span class="dictionary">misdemeanor</span>.</p></section></text><history>1989, c. 491; 2010, c. 834.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
