By Patrick Kuklinski
What are the dog laws in Kentucky? Does Kentucky have dog laws? If you live in this state, you might be wondering what the law says about issues like rabies vaccination, dog bites, dog cruelty, and dog chains.
Read on for more information about dog laws in Kentucky.
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All dogs over four months of age residing in Kentucky must receive a rabies vaccination. This vaccine must be performed by or supervised by a licensed veterinarian. Additionally, dog owners are required to affix the dog’s current rabies tag to the dog’s collar.
If an unvaccinated dog bites a person, they will be considered as a potential rabies carrier. They will be put in quarantine for 10 days. If there are no rabies symptoms, they may be released from quarantine post-vaccination. If they show signs of rabies, they will be euthanized for testing.
Kentucky is fairly strict regarding consequences for dog bite incidents. In these cases, the law almost always sides with the person(s) who was attacked. Kentucky practices “strict liability” regarding these cases. This means that a dog owner is liable for an aggressive dog even if the attack could not have been prevented or predicted. For example, consider someone visits your house. Your dog has never been previously aggressive, and is contained in a crate. However, your visitor chooses to put their hand in through the bars of the crate, and is bitten. Although precautions were taken, you would still be liable for your dog’s bite.
There are cases where dogs will not be considered aggressors in attacks, even if previously proven to be dangerous. Dog owners are not responsible for attacks in which the dog was provoked or protecting the owner. This could include yelling at, hitting, or throwing objects at the dog. Additionally, if you were trespassing on private property and then were attacked by an otherwise contained dog, the dog’s owner would not be liable.
Additionally, in some cases, there may be a ‘common sense’ prohibition on finding a dog owner liable. For example, most people know to leave an eating dog or a mother with puppies alone. Bothering an animal when you could predict aggressive behavior will not always result in liability for the owner.
A dangerous dog, particularly a repeat offender, may be euthanized if this is determined to be in the best interest of the safety of the community. After one documented bite, a dog is considered vicious in the state of Kentucky. This means that subsequent bites may lead to euthanasia. Additionally, a severe enough attack could lead the court to determine euthanasia is the best course of action even for a first offender.
Kentucky law, 413.140(1)(a), provides that you have one (1) year from the occurrence to file suit or settle your dog-bite claim. If you do not file within this time, your claim cannot be taken to court.
According to KRS 257.010, animal abandonment is illegal. The law notes that “abandon” means to forsake entirely, or to neglect or refuse to provide or perform the legal obligations for care and support of an animal by its owner or his agent.” This means that simply letting an unwanted animal go loose instead of finding new caretakers is illegal. Animal abandonment is always dangerous to animals and people that may encounter them. It’s always better to surrender a pet to a shelter or rescue if you cannot keep them.
In Kentucky, animal abandonment falls under an animal cruelty charge. A first offense is often a Class A misdemeanor. However, subsequent offenders could end up being charged with a felony.
Anyone charged with animal abandonment may be subject to paying for their previously owned animal’s vet care, boarding, and any additional expenses incurred during their trial. This must be court-ordered, so in some cases, the owner may not be held financially responsible.
Kentucky has a wide range of defined actions that are viewed as animal cruelty. According to KY. REV. STAT. ANN. § 525.130., cruelty to animals is “Subjecting any animal to or causes cruel or injurious mistreatment through abandonment, participates other than as provided in KRS 525.125 in causing it to fight for pleasure or profit (including, but not limited to being a spectator or vendor at an event where a four (4) legged animal is caused to fight for pleasure or profit), mutilation, beating, torturing any animal other than a dog or cat, tormenting, failing to provide adequate food, drink, space, or health care, or by any other means.” This means that it’s illegal both to actively harm an animal by physical abuse, and also illegal to more casually neglect an animal’s needs.
Most offenses of animal cruelty are a Class A Misdemeanor in the state of Kentucky. More severe offenses, such as severe cruelty resulting in death or disfigurement, could constitute felony charges. For example, torture or poisoning are both correlated with felony charges.
As in the other 49 states, dogfighting is a felony in Kentucky. This doesn’t apply only to those directly fighting their animals. Charges can also occur for those betting on or attending dogfights in Kentucky. It’s also illegal to train dogs for the intent of fighting, even if you aren’t directly participating in dogfights.
Tethering or chaining a dog is legal in Kentucky. Somewhat controversially, Kentucky does not have restrictions on tethering dogs. This can lead to neglectful situations technically not found to be illegal. However, tethering improperly can still be prosecuted as animal cruelty – for example, a painful tether that’s too heavy for the dog could be viewed as inflicting harm, leading to an animal cruelty charge. Keep in mind that many individual counties may have specific ordinances regarding tethering, so research your specific area. As a general rule of thumb, if you tether your dog, provide them at least three times the length of their body for space, keep the area clean and free of debris, attach safely without a choke collar, and provide shelter, food, and water.
Sadly, the Animal Legal Defense Fund ranks Kentucky number 45 out of all 50 US States for animal protection laws. This makes Kentucky a “bottom-tier” state by their standards. Why does Kentucky rank so low? Kentucky largely has very lenient sentencing and loosely defined standards for care that allow animal abusers to keep abusing. Additionally, there are no requirements for veterinarians or social services professionals to report suspected abuse, letting abuse that could otherwise be stopped go unnoticed.
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