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[McCook Daily Gazette]
McCook, Nebraska ~ Thursday, December 4, 2008
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New laws could make owning a dog more costly

Tuesday, October 7, 2008
It will cost a little more to own a dog in the city, if new state laws regarding animal control procedures are implemented.

LB1055, passed by the Nebraska Legislature this year, also tightens vicious dog/dog at large laws and imposes stiffer penalties for those who violate these laws.

The statutes took effect in April and allows increasing fines for repeated dog at large citations and allowing counties to assess dog licenses.

According to LB1055, additional penalties can be assessed for owners with more than three dog at large citations.

The fines for allowing a dog to run at large are increased to $50 for a first offense, $75 for a second offense, and $100 for a third and subsequent offenses. Currently in Red Willow County, dog at large citations are $20 regardless of the number of times the dog is picked up.

With licensing fees, the law allows municipalities to impound a dog if the owner hasn't paid the license tax or if the dog is running at large. McCook City Attorney Nate Schneider estimated that if the city decided to assess licensing fees, they would be similar in price to what other cities are doing.

Other revisions that can be enacted under LB1055 include:

* the definition of a dangerous dog has been expanded. Currently a dog can be declared dangerous if it infects severe injury while on public or private property other than the owner's property. New laws remove the requirements of location and severe injury. A severe injury is defined as any physical injury that results in disfiguring lacerations that require multiple stitches, cosmetic surgery or broken bones.

LB1055 removes the severe injury definition and designates a dangerous dog as one that kills a domestic animal or inflicts injury, regardless of where it's at or the level of injury.

* There are new specific requirements for dangerous dogs. A dog declared dangerous must be spayed or neutered and implanted with a microchip by a licensed veterinarian within 30 days of the designation that the dog is dangerous.

Other new laws allow entities that act as animal control officers to enforce animal control in their jurisdiction and more strict enclosures for dogs declared dangerous.

**-- Lorri Sughroue


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Does this mean if you have a dog in a pen on your own property and someone gets in the pen resulting in injury from the dog, that the owner and dog are liable????

This law needs to be clarified. The animal only protects their place and will do that if someone invades their space on the owners property.

A domesticated animal that is docile will turn mean if provoked. This will sure make the animal shelter get real full of pets. Pets that are good ones, but the people don't want to get in trouble for having.

-- Posted by edbru on Tue, Oct 7, 2008, at 6:01 PM


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