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2016 SESSION
16104040DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 3.2-6552 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 3.2-6552. Dogs killing, injuring, or chasing livestock or poultry.
It shall be the duty of any animal control officer or other officer who may find a dog in the act of killing or injuring livestock or poultry to seize or kill such dog forthwith whether such dog bears a tag or not. Any person finding a dog committing any of the depredations mentioned in this section shall have the right to kill such dog on sight as shall any owner of livestock or his agent finding a dog chasing livestock on land utilized by the livestock when the circumstances show that such chasing is harmful to the livestock. Any court shall have the power to order the animal control officer or other officer to kill any dog known to be a confirmed livestock or poultry killer, and any dog killing poultry for the third time shall be considered a confirmed poultry killer. The court, through its contempt powers, may compel the owner, custodian, or harborer of the dog to produce the dog.
Any animal control officer who has reason to believe that any
dog is killing livestock or poultry shall be empowered to seize such dog solely
for the purpose of examining such dog in order to determine whether it
committed any of the depredations mentioned herein. Any animal control officer
or other person who has reason to believe that any dog is killing livestock, or
committing any of the depredations mentioned in this section, shall apply to a
magistrate serving the locality wherein the dog may be, who shall issue a
warrant requiring the owner or custodian, if known, to appear before a general
district court at a time and place named therein, at which time evidence shall
be heard. If it shall appear that the dog is a livestock killer, or has
committed any of the depredations mentioned in this section, the district court
shall order that the dog be: (i) killed euthanized
immediately by the animal control officer or other officer designated by the
court; or (ii) removed to another state that does not border on
the Commonwealth and prohibited from returning to the Commonwealth; or (iii) confined indoors or
in a securely enclosed and locked structure of sufficient height and design to
prevent the dog's escape or direct contact with or entry by minors, adults, or
other animals. The structure shall be
designed to provide the dog with shelter from the elements of nature. When off
its owner's property, any dog found to
be a livestock or poultry killer shall be kept on a leash and muzzled in such a
manner as not to cause injury to an animal or
interfere with the dog's vision or respiration, but
so as to prevent it from biting a person or another animal.
Any dog ordered found running at large that has previously been
deemed a livestock or poultry killer by the courts or that had been removed from the Commonwealth that
is later found in the Commonwealth shall be ordered by a court to be killed euthanized immediately.