The laws of nature might be the only ones our pets follow, but that doesn’t mean U.S. legislators haven’t tried to get them to follow the laws of man. Here are a few of the strangest pet laws our legislative history research could find.
Be Careful How You Shoot a Bear in Alaska.
In Alaska, you can shoot bears. That’s okay. Just be sure to use a gun and not a camera. The Last Frontier has a legal statute making it illegal to wake bears from their slumber to take a picture. Also of note is an Alaskan legal statute prohibiting people from pushing a live moose out of an airplane midflight (which is particularly strange as it implies it’s okay to push a dead moose out).
Make Sure Your Horse Is Properly Dressed in South Dakota.
People everywhere love dressing up their pets, but it seems none more so than those who live in South Dakota, where horses aren’t allowed to enter the Fountain Inn unless they’re wearing pants. Strange enough as it is, it gets even weirder when you think about the fact that it implies horse-pants actually exist.
Tatted Up Dogs Need to Be Brought to the Police in Connecticut.
If you find a dog with a tattoo in Connecticut, you need to bring it to the local police not because it’s a punk or because it’s a biker, but because it’s probably lost. The legislative intent behind this legal statute is actually quite sound. Rather than giving their pets tags, which can be easily lost, some people will tattoo their dogs with contact information in the event they ever run off.
And to think, these are just some of the weird legal statutes out there. If your law research has ever uncovered any other weird legal statutes, feel free to share in the comments, and remember: don’t take pictures of bears, put pants on your horse, and bring tattooed dogs to the cops.
