Today, many dogs are deemed dangerous, not on the traits of the individual animal, but by breed alone. The authors explain why breed discrimination is unfair, and ineffective, and discuss approaches to handle reckless owners and their dogs. While there is nothing wrong with laws restricting vicious dogs, to have a dog seized or destroyed solely on the basis of its breed flies in the face of common decency.

Describes the legal rights, responsibilities, and restrictions for dog owners on state and local levels, including laws on registration, travel, housing, and animal cruelty.

America's estimated 50 million dogs are governed by laws. Completely updated to reflect the most recent legal changes, this revised third edition of a very helpful handbook answers common legal questions about biting, barking, veterinarians, leash laws, travel, landlords, wills, guide dogs, pit bulls, cruelty, and much more.

This is a fast-growing field of law, and today more and more lawyers are finding they have cases that deal with animal law. This one-stop resource contains every major aspect of private civil and criminal litigation of animal law disputes. The book also contains sample litigation documents, discovery materials, expert information and more. It's the one resource every lawyer who engages in animal law needs.

Although scholars in the disciplines of law, psychology, philosophy, and sociology have published a considerable number of prescriptive, normative, and theoretical studies of animals in society, Pet Politics presents the first study of the development of companion animal or pet law and policy in Canada and the United States by political scientists. The authors examine how people and governments classify three species of pets or companion animals-cats, dogs, and horses-for various degrees of legal protection. They then detail how interest groups shape the agenda for companion animal legislation and regulation, and the legislative and administrative formulation of anticruelty, kennel licensing, horse slaughter, feral and roaming cat, and breed ban policies. Finally, they examine the enforcement of these laws and policies by agencies and the courts. Using an eclectic mix of original empirical data, original case studies, and interviews-and relying on general theories and research about the policy process and the sociopolitical function of legality-the authors illustrate that pet policy is a unique field of political struggle, a conflict that originates from differing perspectives about whether pets are property or autonomous beings, and clashing norms about the care of animals. The result of the political struggle, the authors argue, is difficulty in the enactment of policies and especially in the implementation and enforcement of laws that might improve the welfare of companion animals.

This straight-forward, plain language guide is an essential reference for all dog owners and others involved with dogs. Topics covered include: Ownership, chattels, and 'being in charge'.

"A guide for dog owners that should cover any legal issues they might face pertaining to their dog, including ownership disputes, dog bites, and animal cruelty."--Publisher.