(a)The Secretary shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Livestock Disease Control Program. The Secretary may appoint the State Veterinarian to manage the Program, and other personnel as are necessary for the sound administration of the Program.
(b)The Secretary shall maintain a public record of all permits issued and of all animals tested by the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets under this chapter for a period of five years.
(c)The Secretary may conduct any inspections, investigations, tests, diagnoses, or other reasonable steps necessary to discover and eliminate contagious diseases existing in domestic animals in this State. The Secretary shall investigate any reports of diseased animals, provided there are adequate resources. In carrying out the prov
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(a) The Secretary shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Livestock Disease Control Program. The Secretary may appoint the State Veterinarian to manage the Program, and other personnel as are necessary for the sound administration of the Program.
(b) The Secretary shall maintain a public record of all permits issued and of all animals tested by the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets under this chapter for a period of five years.
(c) The Secretary may conduct any inspections, investigations, tests, diagnoses, or other reasonable steps necessary to discover and eliminate contagious diseases existing in domestic animals in this State. The Secretary shall investigate any reports of diseased animals, provided there are adequate resources. In carrying out the provisions of this part, the Secretary or his or her authorized agent may enter any real estate, premises, buildings, enclosures, or areas where animals may be found for the purpose of making reasonable inspections and tests. A livestock owner or the person in possession of the animal to be inspected, upon request of the Secretary, shall restrain the animal and make it available for inspection and testing.
(d) The Secretary may contract and cooperate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, other federal agencies or states, and accredited veterinarians for the control and eradication of contagious diseases of animals. The Secretary shall consult and cooperate, as appropriate, with the Commissioners of Fish and Wildlife and of Health regarding the control of contagious diseases.
(e) If necessary, the Secretary shall set priorities for the use of the funds available to operate the Program established by this chapter.
(f) Any commercial slaughterhouse operating in the State shall maintain and retain for three years records of the number of animals slaughtered at the facility, the physical address of origination of each animal, the date of slaughter of each animal, and all official identification numbers of slaughtered animals. A commercial slaughterhouse shall make the records required under this subsection available to the Agency upon request.
(g) Records produced or acquired by the Secretary under this chapter shall be available to the public, except that:
(1) the Secretary may withhold from inspection and copying records that are confidential under federal law; and
(2) the Secretary may withhold or redact a record to the extent needed to avoid disclosing directly or indirectly the identity of individual persons, households, or businesses. (Added 1987, No. 276 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1993, No. 202 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2005, No. 12, § 2, eff. May 2, 2005; 2017, No. 30, § 3; 2019, No. 64, § 16.)