A law worth shooting down
The otherwise dog-friendly state of Washington is working to remove two embarassingly unfriendly laws from its books, both of which require wandering dogs to be shot.
The state Senate unanimously approved a bill Monday that could repeal both, the Associated Press reported.
“I thought it was a joke. I didn’t realize that this was in statute,” said Sen. Dale Brandland, R-Bellingham, sponsor of the measure to repeal the old laws. “It’s very outdated … they need to go.”
One of the laws in question gives dog owners 48 hours to kill their dog if it is found killing another animal. The other law requires sheriffs to kill any dog running at large without a metal dog tag, between the months of August and February.
The measure now moves to the House for consideration. The laws have been on the books since the early 1900s when the health and welfare of livestock was of greater concern to state residents.
Posted by jwoestendiek March 3rd, 2009 under Muttsblog.
Tags: dog, dogs, killing, law, legislature, livestock, repeal, shoot, shooting, state, stray, wandering, washington
