Quote:
Originally Posted by BookCat
Yes, even here dogs are stolen from their gardens. We have slightly different housing: most people live in houses of various kinds, rather than apartments. If someone kept a dog chained up, a nosey neighbour would report them to the RSPCA who would assess the situation and either give them advice or take the dog. I had a visit after I'd rescued a feral colony of 8 during a cold winter, their story is in the details to this video of them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flg8q7l70UQ&t=336s
Someone local complained that I had lots of cats and thought I was hoarding. The RSPCA woman who visited actually helped me with lots of food for them and a cat play tree (which they tore to pieces).
In most areas of the UK it's illegal to have a dog off a leash in public areas. If you live in the countryside dogs are let off leashes for a short time (apart from working dogs) but will be shot if they bother sheep.
We have the often-complained-about Dangerous Dogs Act, which names certain breeds of dogs who must be muzzled in public because they are considered killers. It was a badly thought out Act.
I assumed similar laws pertained to the US, obviously wrongly. |
Similar laws yes. Do people pay attention to them NO.
If your dog is running loose and you tell animal control it escaped, no penalties unless the animal harms a human.
Most people live in houses in the US too. Most apartments you cannot own a dog over 20 lbs because they have to be kept inside because most apartment complexes do not have individually fenced yards.
Oh I just noticed something. You said the UK had leash laws. Does one law like your Dangerous Dog Act apply to the entire UK?
No the US as a whole has no animal laws. That is up to the individual states.
Matter of fact, that applies to most things.
It has just been in the last 30 years that all the states have the same drinking age. Though every state regulates how alcohol is sold and in some states like Texas, the individual counties can decide whether they want to sell alcohol, then if a city/town in that county decides they don't want to sell alcohol that is up to them. Example : if I want a small bottle (airline size) of vodka, I can either go to a convenience store in New Mexico, not sure the hours or buy a larger bottle from 9 to 9 Monday through Saturday at a dedicated liquor store in Texas.
Marriage is another area that varies from state to state.
There are actually very few federal laws that apply across the board. Usually the feds only get involved if the crime crosses state lines.