                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DOGS KILLING, INJURING, OR CHASING LIVESTOCK OR POULTRY (§ 3.2-6552)

A. 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.

B. 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 or 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. Any dog ordered removed from the Commonwealth that is later found
in the Commonwealth shall be ordered by a court to be killed or euthanized
immediately.

C. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection B, if it is determined that the
dog has killed or injured only poultry, the district court may, instead of
ordering killing, euthanasia, or removal to another state pursuant to this
section, order either (a) that the dog be transferred to another owner whom the
court deems appropriate and permanently fitted with an identifying microchip
registered to that owner or (b) that the dog be fitted with an identifying
microchip registered to the owner and confined indoors or in a securely enclosed
and locked structure of sufficient height and design to prevent the dog&#8217;s
escape; direct contact with the dog by minors, adults, or other animals; 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&#8217;s property, any dog found to be a poultry killer shall be kept on a
leash and muzzled in such a manner as not to cause injury to the dog or
interfere with its vision or respiration, but so as to prevent it from biting a
person or another animal.

HISTORY: 1984, c. 492, § 29-213.85; 1985, c. 385; 1987, c. 488, § 3.1-796.116;
1990, c. 222; 1993, c. 977; 1998, c. 817; 2008, cc. 551, 691, 860; 2014, c. 137;
2016, c. 757.