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Uxbridge Board of Health appoints Blackstone Valley Animal Control to issue on-scene quarantine orders
Summary
The Uxbridge Board of Health voted unanimously March 21 to appoint Blackstone Valley Animal Control as agents authorized to issue quarantine orders on active animal-bite calls, a change the board said will reduce duplicate visits by inspectors and improve efficiency.
On March 21, 2025 the Town of Uxbridge Board of Health voted unanimously to appoint Blackstone Valley Animal Control as agents of the board authorized to issue quarantine orders on active animal-bite calls.
Board members said the change is intended to eliminate duplicate visits to residents after bite incidents. A presenter at the meeting described the current practice: "What the animal control officer does is he goes to the house, he takes the report, and he tells the people that the animal inspector will be by, at some point in the future to tell you to quarantine your animal," and added that giving the ACO authority to issue quarantine notices on-scene would save an extra trip by the animal inspector.
The board heard that the regional shared-service program covers six towns (Uxbridge, Douglas, Millville, Mendon, Blackstone and Hopedale), that Uxbridge serves as fiscal agent, and that the region employs two full-time animal control officers. Board members and staff discussed limits on the appointment: they agreed to restrict the delegation to on-scene, active-call quarantines and not to delegate barn inspections or other animal-inspection duties that are part of the animal inspector job description.
Board members asked and received clarification about paperwork and state filing requirements. Staff confirmed the quarantine form required by the state (Department of Agricultural Resources) would still be completed and submitted; the appointment authorizes ACOs to issue the order on behalf of the board while paperwork is completed by the ACO or the animal inspector.
The motion to appoint Blackstone Valley Animal Control as agents to perform the specific duty of issuing quarantine orders was moved at the meeting and approved by roll call; the board recorded the appointment as unanimous. Members indicated the appointment can be withdrawn by subsequent vote and will be reappointed on an annual basis as required by practice.
Next steps noted by staff: prepare and sign the state appointment forms for the ACOs and complete any internal job‑description language necessary to codify that ACOs may issue quarantine orders on active calls. The board did not authorize ACOs to perform veterinary-origin quarantines that originate at clinics or to supplant barn‑inspection responsibilities.
