                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

HYBRID CANINES KILLING, INJURING OR CHASING LIVESTOCK (§ 3.2-6583)

It shall be the duty of any animal control officer or other officer who may find
a hybrid canine in the act of killing or injuring livestock or poultry to kill
such hybrid canine forthwith, whether such hybrid canine bears a tag or not. Any
person finding a hybrid canine committing any of the depredations mentioned in
this section may kill such hybrid canine on sight as may any owner of livestock
or his agent finding a hybrid canine chasing livestock on land lawfully utilized
by the livestock when the circumstances show that such chasing is harmful to the
livestock. Any court may order the animal control officer or other officer to
kill any hybrid canine known to be a confirmed livestock or poultry killer, and
any hybrid canine that kills poultry for a third time shall be considered a
confirmed poultry killer. The court, through its contempt powers, may compel the
owner, custodian, or harborer of the hybrid canine to produce the hybrid canine.
		Any animal control officer who has reason to believe that any hybrid canine is
killing livestock or poultry shall be empowered to seize such hybrid canine
solely for the purpose of examining such hybrid canine 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 hybrid canine
is killing livestock, or committing any of the depredations mentioned in this
section, shall apply to a magistrate serving the locality where such hybrid
canine may be, who shall issue a warrant requiring the owner or custodian, if
known, to appear before a general district court, at which time evidence shall
be heard. If it appears that the hybrid canine is a livestock killer, or has
committed any of the depredations mentioned in this section, the district court
shall order that the hybrid canine be: (i) killed 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 hybrid canine ordered removed from the
Commonwealth that is later found in the Commonwealth shall be ordered by a court
to be killed immediately.

HISTORY: 1997, c. 918, § 3.1-796.126:10; 1998, c. 817; 2008, cc. 551, 691, 860.