Dog Laws That Every Single K9 Owner Should Know

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Dog owners need to know their local dog laws. This is because jurisdictions can have a lot of dog laws, meaning that those who fail to exercise the proper degree of care and consideration can end up in serious trouble when they run afoul of something that they never knew existed. Fortunately, it shouldn’t be that challenging for interested individuals to brush up on their local dog laws, not least because there are resources out there that exist for the purpose of helping them pick up such knowledge.

What Are Some of the Most Common Dog Laws?

There are a number of dog laws that are so common that most people will have at least some awareness of them through pure osmosis if nothing else. For example, most dog owners expect that they will be required to get their dogs licensed. Likewise, most dog owners expect that they will be required to get their dogs vaccinated for rabies. Besides, other common examples range from being required to keep dogs on leashes to being required to pick up after dogs when they defecate.

Of course, there are also common dog laws that deal with more serious issues. For instance, dog owners with dogs that are prone to making nuisances of themselves might want to get that problem trained out sooner rather than later because there is a good chance that could get them fined by the local authorities. With that said, being a nuisance is far from being the worst problem that a dog can cause, as shown by the numerous stories that can be found of dogs biting people for not so good reasons. Unfortunately, dog owners should consider this to be a very serious problem because more states have strict liability laws than not, meaning that dog owners will be held responsible whether they knew their dogs had vicious propensities or not. Even worse, there are some places that will hold dog owners liable even if the person who got attacked hadn’t been invited onto their properties, which is something that can even extend to intruders.

Moving on, dog owners might be interested in other legal matters related to dogs as well. For example, it is interesting to note that dogs are considered to be personal property. As a result, a dog owner retains ownership of their dog even if they have lost their dog, meaning that they can sue to get their dog back if whoever finds their dog refuses to give it back to them. There are potential exceptions to this rule such as if the dog owner either abandoned the dog or failed to take affirmative steps to find them, which can see some variation from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that the importance of dogs has caused a couple of states – Alaska and Ilinois – to pass laws requiring judges to consider the well-being of the dog when considering who should have custody in the event of a divorce. This doesn’t mean that judges in other jurisdictions can’t do the same, just that they are not legally required to do so until similar laws are passed there as well.

Speaking of which, interested individuals should know that some jurisdictions can have breed laws as well. Simply put, this means some breeds face much harsher treatment in some jurisdictions than other dogs, meaning that their dog owners need to be very, very careful not to run afoul of such laws. Interested individuals might find this to be unfair, but such is the state of dog laws in some jurisdictions for the time being.

How Can You Learn More about Dog Laws?

Ultimately, dog owners might want to look further into their local dog laws to get a better idea of what is and isn’t permitted. Generally speaking, jurisdictions should have some kind of page that will provide such information to interested individuals. However, if dog owners are unable to find the kind of information that they are interested in, there is still the option of consulting shelters and other animal welfare organizations that might be able to point them in the right direction. When dog owners are unsure, they shouldn’t hesitate to ask for help because that can provide them with an easier path to getting what they want.

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