Introduction to the Irresponsible Dog Owner Law
An Irresponsible Dog Owner Law is designed to identify and penalize dog owners who repeatedly fail to control their animals. Penalties may include losing their dogs and paying substantial fines.
This type of law aligns with the general legal principle that dogs are naturally friendly toward humans:
- “Harming a human being is regarded as contrary to a dog’s nature.” — Drake v. Dean (1993) 15 Cal.App.4th 915, 921.
- “Because the great majority of dogs are harmless… the possession of characteristics dangerous to mankind… is properly regarded as abnormal to them.” — Restatement 2nd of Torts, Section 509, Comments d and f.
Since a normal dog is naturally friendly, its viciousness is usually the result of human actions—specifically, the owner’s negligence. Dog owners must understand that mistreatment, neglect, poor socialization, chaining, injury, or illness can turn any dog into a danger to family, friends, and the community. The owner, keeper, or harborer (except for temporary keepers) is responsible for these conditions. Failure to meet this duty can lead to tragic and even fatal consequences.
Because this law targets repeat offenders of animal control laws, it follows principles such as:
✅ “Punish the deed, not the breed.”
✅ “Hold the person at the other end of the leash responsible.”
Why This Law Is Needed – The “Vicious Dog Owner Loop”
Most laws do not count multiple dog bites from different dogs in the same home as a serious problem. This creates a loophole that lets irresponsible owners keep getting new dogs after each attack. Here’s how it works:
- If one owner has three dogs, and each dog bites a different person, the law sees this as:
✅ One bite per dog (Not a repeat offense).
❌ Not one owner responsible for three bites.
❌ Not one dangerous dog with multiple attacks. - Each dog is judged separately. Even if all three dogs are declared dangerous, the owner can:
✅ Put them down and get three new dogs.
✅ Start fresh with “clean slate” dogs. - No serious penalties means no reason for the owner to change. The cycle repeats over and over.
How to Break the Loop
To stop this cycle, we need stronger laws:
- Create a national registry of irresponsible dog owners—people convicted of animal control violations or who have paid settlements or court judgments for dog attacks.
- Require higher liability insurance for dog owners with a history of attacks.
- Increase penalties for repeat offenders to compensate victims more fairly.
- Ban repeat offenders from owning or harboring dogs after multiple violations.
This Model Irresponsible Dog Owner Law achieves three out of four of these measures.
Precedent for the Model Irresponsible Dog Owner Law
Several jurisdictions have already adopted similar laws. For example, Omaha, Nebraska, has a reckless dog owner ordinance:
📜 Omaha, Nebraska, Code of Ordinances, Section 6-1:
“Reckless owner: An owner who has been convicted of one or more violations of this chapter on three separate occasions in a 24-month period or who has not complied with the requirements for ownership of a dangerous or potentially dangerous animal.”
Below is the Model Irresponsible Dog Owner Law drafted by Attorney Kenneth M. Phillips, author of Dog Bite Law. Jurisdictions can customize Section (b)(2) to include other problematic behaviors. This law is also designed to work alongside the Model Dangerous Dog Law for a more comprehensive approach.
Model Irresponsible Dog Owner Law
by Attorney Kenneth M. Phillips, Author of Dog Bite Law (www.dogbitelaw.com)
IRRESPONSIBLE DOG OWNERS
a. This shall be referred to as the Irresponsible Dog Owner Law.
b. An “irresponsible dog owner” is a person who —
1. Owns, keeps or harbors one or more dogs (hereinafter referred to as “his dogs”), and,
2. Has violated, three or more times, one or more ordinances or statutes that prohibit a dog from running at large, trespassing, creating a nuisance by defecating, being off leash, being unmuzzled, biting a person without justification, biting a domestic animal without justification, or being in a dog park in violation of a rule of that dog park, or that prohibit a person from engaging in cruelty to animals, or chaining or tethering a dog.
c. An irresponsible dog owner shall be penalized in one or all of the following ways:
1. Fined $500.00 upon the first conviction hereunder, $1,000.00 upon the second conviction hereunder, and $2,500.00 upon the third conviction hereunder.
2. Ordered to surrender one or more of his dogs to animal control authorities and to refrain from owning, keeping or harboring those dogs or any dog or dogs for a period of up to three years.
3. Ordered to maintain liability insurance coverage in the amount of $100,000 for harm caused by his dogs.
d. An animal control officer, city or county prosecutor, or private person may petition the court for a declaration that a person is an irresponsible dog owner and that he be penalized as provided herein.
e. Upon petitioning the court, the accused shall be given notice as in civil cases that if he does not appear before the court and show cause why he should not be declared an irresponsible dog owner, then he shall be declared an irresponsible dog owner and shall be penalized as provided herein.
f. At the court hearing to determine whether the accused is an irresponsible dog owner, the court may admit into evidence all relevant evidence, including but not limited to prior convictions, incident reports and affidavits of witnesses. A jury shall not be available. The court may find, upon a preponderance of the evidence, that the accused is an irresponsible dog owner and, upon such finding, the court shall imposed the penalty or penalties provided in section (2) hereof.
g. Dogs surrendered or impounded pursuant to this ordinance shall be adopted-out if suitable for adoption, or else shall be euthanized.
h. Disposal of a dog or dogs by any method specified herein does not relieve the irresponsible dog owner of liability for violations and any accrued charges.
i. The court may not grant probation to an irresponsible dog owner except in extraordinary circumstances, and under the condition that the next violation under section (b)(2) or any other animal control law shall result in imposition of the full penalties prescribed by section (c) hereof.
j. Each violation of an order made under section (c)(2) or (c)(3) hereof shall be punishable as a contempt of court in addition to any other penalties under this or any other law.
k. The provisions hereof shall be in addition to any other civil, criminal or administrative laws, regulations or causes of action against the owner of the dog or any other person, firm, corporation or governmental entity or employee.
l. All persons residing in the same household as the owner, keeper, or harborer of a dog shall be presumed jointly responsible unless they can prove that they had no knowledge of the dog’s presence, or took reasonable steps to prevent the violation.
m. Any person who assists, enables, or conspires with the owner of a dog to evade responsibility—whether by transferring ownership on paper, concealing the dog’s presence, or otherwise circumventing the law—shall be jointly liable as an accomplice.
n. A person may not escape liability by claiming that another household member, friend, or associate was the sole owner, keeper, or harborer of the dog.