Animal Law: What Is It All About?

Take care of your pets with Affordable Attorneys in Bradenton Many people wonder exactly what Animal Law encompasses. No, it doesn’t just have to do with attorneys as sharks! Animal Law affects the rights and welfare of animals in our community and its issues can span many different legal areas.

People argue over ownership of animals, which involves property rights law contained in Replevin statutes and occasionally some Family Law statutes.

Animal abuse is dealt with under the Florida Criminal Statutes which includes, but is not limited to, dog fighting, confinement, lack of shelter, physical abuse, and issues related to proper care.

Cases sometimes concern animals harming people. For example, a dog bite can lead to an action for negligence under Tort Law for damages. This category also covers the dangerous dog and animal statutes, which typically are implemented by Animal Control. These statutes dictate that owners take the proper precautions with their animals to ensure that their animals do not bite a person or another animal. Such actions can have serious ramifications for pets, sometimes resulting in the death of the offending animal.

Another category involves people other than the pet’s owner harming animals, typically in the context of Veterinary Malpractice and defective products.

The area of Estate Planning enables pet owners to include their animals in their estate plans, whether it is a specific distribution in their Wills or the creation of a Pet Trust to care for their needs.

Other areas of Animal Law include First Amendment Freedom of Speech rights regarding abuses that take place against animals, contractual disputes over animals, and discrimination for pet owners with disabilities against homeowners associations and condominiums.

My personal goal in practicing Animal law is to help protect our animals and to be the voice for them in our Courts. Animals play a large role in our lives and we need to be sure that there are laws in place to protect them. Over the course of several months, I will be submitting articles about the different categories of animal law and the way the statutes affect us as well as our animals

Dana Laganella, Esq.