Suffering a dog attack is a very horrifying experience. In most cases, you can escape with minor injuries, but sometimes, people are not as lucky. That is what spawned Alabama to create a new law about dangerous dogs in 2018, according to AL.com. This law, which is known as Emily’s law, came into being because of the death of a 24-year-old woman who was killed by dogs outside her home.
The basis of the law is to allow felony charges against owners of dogs who severely injure or kill a person. It also allows people to give sworn statements about concerns that a dog is dangerous. This then allows authorities to launch an investigation.
If an investigation finds a dog to be dangerous, the dog goes into impound. The court must then make a decision about the dog. If found to be dangerous and the dog has severely injured or killed someone, the court will have the euthanized.
If the dog is found dangerous but has not harmed anyone, the court may still or euthanization, but it also can release the dog to the owner with strict restrictions. The owner may have to pay a fee, secure a surety bond, keep the animal in an enclosure, get the dog spayed or neutered and microchip the dog.
If a dog found to be dangerous does severely injure or kill someone, he or she can get a felony charge that could carry two to 20 years in prison. If the dog is not a dangerous dog, the charges are still a felony but carry one to 10 years in prison. This information is for education and is not legal advice.
