What to do after your dog bites someone. How to save her life.

If your dog bites someone, are you required to put her down? Is there a way you can save her life? What are your legal options. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro 00:20 – What is a Dangerous Dog? 00:55 – What if My Dog is Reported? 01:45 – How Do You Know That Your Dog Is Dangerous? 02:17 – What if My Dog is Dangerous? 03:02 – What is the Cost for Registration? 03:28 – What Else Should I Know? Also find our content on: Facebook.com/MatthewHarrisLaw Instagram - @Matthew_Harris_Law Google Maps – https://g.page/MatthewHarrisLaw Website - https://matthewharrislaw.com/ Source - https://matthewharrislaw.com/dangerous-dogs/ Music: All I Am – Dyalla Music provided via YouTube Studio Audio Library It’s a nightmare for any dog owner. An injured person shows up on your doorstep claiming that your dog attacked her. She states that she has called an ambulance and animal control. She then talks about your dog being put down because it’s dangerous. You are concerned because your pet has never shown aggression in any way. You wonder if you will lose your best friend. What is a Dangerous Dog? “Dangerous Dog” is defined in Texas law. It means a dog that either: --makes an unprovoked attack on a person that causes bodily injury and occurs in a place other than an enclosure in which the dog was being kept; OR --commits unprovoked acts that cause a person to reasonably believe the dog will attack and cause bodily injury to that person, and the acts occur in a place other than an enclosure in which the dog was being kept. —Tex. Health & Safety Code § 822.041(2) Basically, a Dangerous Dog is one that is aggressive towards people when she isn’t being provoked, and when she is outside of her enclosure (like her pen, crate, run, fenced-in yard, etc.). What if My Dog is Reported? If your dog is reported as being dangerous (meaning she did one of those acts I just referenced), you will receive a notice that a report has been filed. You will then have no more than five days after the date you receive the notice to deliver your dog to animal control. If you fail to deliver your dog, a court will issue a warrant authorizing animal control to seize your dog. —Tex. Health & Safety Code § 822.0422(b)-(c) Should you receive such notice, consider speaking with the animal control authority about impounding your pet at a place of your choosing (like her vet or her normal boarding facility), so she can be in a more familiar and comfortable environment during this stressful time. Not later than the tenth day after your pet has been delivered to animal control, the court will hold a hearing to determine if your dog is dangerous. If the court determines that you own a dangerous dog, you can appeal the decision, and can request a jury trial. —Tex. Health & Safety Code §§ 822.0423-0424 How Do You Know That Your Dog Is Dangerous? When you learn that your dog is dangerous, the law imposes certain requirements on you. So, how do you “know” under the law that your dog is dangerous? Under Texas law, a person learns that she is the owner of a dangerous dog when either: (1) the owner knows of an attack like discussed a minute ago; (2) when the owner receives notice that a justice court, county court, or municipal court has found that the dog is dangerous; or (3) the owner is informed by the animal control authority that the dog is a dangerous dog. —Tex. Health & Safety Code §822.042(g) If you learn that your dog is dangerous, what steps do you have to take? What if My Dog is Dangerous? No later than thirty days after the Court determines that you own a dangerous dog, you must: • Register your pet with the animal control authority in for the area in which the dangerous dog is kept; • Restrain your pet at all times on a leash or in a secure enclosure; • Obtain liability insurance coverage or show financial responsibility in an amount of at least $100,000 and provide proof to animal control; and • Comply with any applicable municipal or county regulation, requirement, or restriction on dangerous dogs. If you do not comply with the above requirements, you must deliver your pet to animal control within the thirty days after you learn that you own a dangerous dog, and the court will order the humane destruction of your pet. However, the Court can’t order your pet destroyed if an appeal is pending. —Tex. Health & Safety Code §822.042(a)-(b), (e)-(e-1) What is the Cost for Registration? The animal control authority in your area is required to allow you to register your dangerous dog so long as you present proof of: --liability insurance or financial responsibility; --current rabies vaccination of the dangerous dog; and --the secure enclosure in which the dangerous dog is kept. You must also pay an annual registration fee of $50.00. Animal control will provide you with a registration tag that must be placed on your pet’s collar.