Reimbursement for damages caused by dogs and the use of funds derived from the licensing of dogs

Under this bill the owner of a farm animal, dog, or cat that was injured or killed by another person's dog may make a claim for the damage if the owner files the claim within five business days, rather than three days, of becoming aware of the incident.

Current law requires a person who owns a dog to have the dog licensed. The statutes establish a minimum fee for a dog license but authorize higher fees to be charged by municipalities and counties. The dog license fees are collected by municipalities. A municipality keeps any amount of the fee that it imposes above the minimum and pays the rest to the county. The law requires the county to pay 5 percent of the minimum dog license fee to the state and to keep the remainder of the fee in a separate dog license fund. The county may use the dog license fund for administering the dog license law and for the expenses of a pound for dogs run by the county or a humane society. The law also authorizes a county to use any remaining money in the dog license fund to pay claims for damages caused by dogs to farm animals, dogs, or cats.

This bill requires a county to place into a separate dog damage reimbursement fund 25 percent of the dog license fees that remain after making the required 5 percent payment to the state. This fund may be used only to pay claims by persons whose farm animals, dogs, or cats are injured by dogs, except that on March 1 any funds from fees paid for dog licenses for the previous year that have not been used to pay dog damage claims may be returned to the dog license fund and used for the purposes allowed under current law.