Ohio Code 941.06 – Enforcing authority
(A) If any person has reason to suspect the existence of a dangerously contagious or infectious disease, a disease of concern, or a residue, the person immediately shall give notice of that fact to the director of agriculture or to a licensed veterinarian.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 941.06
- agriculture: includes farming; ranching; aquaculture; algaculture meaning the farming of algae; apiculture and related apicultural activities, production of honey, beeswax, honeycomb, and other related products; horticulture; viticulture, winemaking, and related activities; animal husbandry, including, but not limited to, the care and raising of livestock, equine, and fur-bearing animals; poultry husbandry and the production of poultry and poultry products; dairy production; the production of field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, flowers, sod, or mushrooms; timber; pasturage; any combination of the foregoing; the processing, drying, storage, and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are conducted in conjunction with, but are secondary to, such husbandry or production; and any additions or modifications to the foregoing made by the director of agriculture by rule adopted in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code. See Ohio Code 1.61
- Animal: means any animal that is a bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, or mammal, other than humans. See Ohio Code 941.01
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Dangerously contagious or infectious disease: means any disease, including any foreign animal disease, or vector, that the director of agriculture, in the director's sound discretion, determines to be of harmful effect on the animal or poultry industry or the public health and to be capable of transmission by any means from a carrier animal to a human or to another animal. See Ohio Code 941.01
- Disease of concern: means any disease, including any foreign animal disease, or vector, that the director determines may have an adverse impact on the animal or poultry industry or to the public health in this state, but that is not a disease that is reportable to the United States department of agriculture. See Ohio Code 941.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Residue: means any poisonous or deleterious pesticide governed by 40 C. See Ohio Code 941.01
(B) If a veterinarian receives notice of the existence or suspected existence of a dangerously contagious or infectious disease, a disease of concern, or a residue as provided in division (A) of this section, the veterinarian immediately shall communicate that notice to the director.
(C) No person shall sell, attempt to sell, keep with intent to sell, or otherwise transfer to another person an animal that the person knows, or has reason to know, is infected with or exposed to any dangerously contagious or infectious disease or a disease of concern or is adulterated with a residue, except as otherwise provided in this chapter or rules adopted under it.
(D) The offense established under division (C) of this section is a strict liability offense and section 2901.20 of the Revised Code does not apply. The designation of this offense as a strict liability offense shall not be construed to imply that any other offense, for which there is no specified degree of culpability, is not a strict liability offense.