Since the start of July, a large brown dog has threatened at least four people in Sheridan. Sheridan has an ordinance against vicious dogs and requires that dogs be tied up. Sheridan used to have an ordinance against pit bulls, but a few years ago, the legislature passed a law prohibiting towns and cities from passing ordinances against any specific breed.
Missouri also has a following law against vicious dogs. Missouri Revised Statutes Section 578.024 has the following key points:
–A person commits this offense if they own or possess a dog that has previously bitten a person or a domestic animal without provocation, and that dog bites any person on a subsequent occasion.
The offense is classified as follows:
–Class B misdemeanor, unless the attack results in serious injury to any person (then it becomes a class A misdemeanor).
–If any previous attack also resulted in serious injury to any person, it becomes a class E felony.
–If the dog’s attack results in the death of any person, it is a class D felony.
–In addition to the penalties, if a dog that has previously bitten a person or a domestic animal without provocation bites any person again, or if a dog that has not previously bitten a person attacks and causes serious injury or death to any human, the dog must be seized, impounded, and may be destroyed.
–The owner or possessor of the impounded dog can file an appeal to contest its destruction.
–If a dog attacks or bites a person engaged in criminal activity at the time of the attack, the owner or possessor is not guilty of any crime specified under this section.
No comments:
Post a Comment