Owning a dangerous or ruthless dog in Louisiana is illegal and can result in serious legal consequences. It is important to understand the laws and regulations surrounding these types of dogs in order to ensure that you are compliant with the law. In Louisiana, any citizen or official can kill any dangerous or ruthless dog without being held responsible for damages or prosecution. A dangerous dog is defined as any dog that, without being provoked, on two separate occasions within the previous thirty-six months, has adopted behavior that requires defensive action by a person to avoid bodily harm when the person and the dog are outside the dog's owner's property; or any dog that, without provocation, bites a person and causes injury; or any dog that, without provocation, on two separate occasions within the previous thirty-six month period, has killed or seriously bitten ten, inflicted injuries or otherwise caused an injury to a pet outside the dog's owner's property.
When a dangerous dog is on its owner's property, it must remain in a closed place at all times or in a secure enclosure. If it is taken outside of the owner's property, it must be held with a leash that prevents its escape or access to other people. The owner of a dangerous dog must also place signs around the secure enclosure no more than thirty feet away and at every normal point of entry and exit. The signs must bear the words Beware of Dog or Dangerous Dog in letters at least three and a half inches high and must be placed so that anyone who approaches the secure enclosure can easily see them.
If the dangerous dog dies or is sold, transferred, or permanently moved from the municipality or parish where the owner resides, the owner must notify the animal control agency in writing of the change of status and the new location of the dog within two days. Anyone who violates these provisions will be fined no more than three hundred dollars.
Vicious
dogs are defined as any dog that, without provocation, aggressively causes serious bodily harm to or kills a human being and that has been previously determined to be a dangerous dog. It is illegal for anyone to own a ruthless dog and anyone who violates these provisions will be fined no more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for no longer than six months, or both.In addition to these laws, Louisiana also has a negligence liability law that makes a dog owner responsible for damages caused by their dog if it can be proven that they knew or should have known that their animal's behavior would cause harm and failed to act reasonably to avoid injury. It is important to understand all of these laws and regulations regarding owning dangerous, ruthless, and vicious dogs in Louisiana in order to ensure compliance with the law and avoid legal consequences.
