Idaho | Dogs Weapons

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Having a dog can be a great experience. You can grow with this dog, introduce them into your family, and have one of the best family members ever right there whenever you need them. But when the dog becomes aggressive, you could face criminal charges if they begin to attack others around them. Many courts are starting to recognize that dogs are as dangerous as other weapons, even more so since they can act on their own and won’t stop moving. This could land you in some trouble if your aggressive dog begins to attack or you use them as a weapon.

If you have a dog that attacks someone who is walking by, or you get in a fight and use your dog as a weapon, you could face huge criminal penalties. Make sure to get the right criminal lawyer on your side as soon as possible to reduce the charges and get things back on track.

Dogs as Dangerous Weapons

Having a dog does not mean that you are going to inherently end up in jail because you have them as weapons. Most dogs are just fine and don’t cause any harm to other people. But, once the dog is considered deadly or dangerous, there can be some stiff penalties put in place. If your dog was able to inflict serious harm on another person, it is likely that they will then be counted as a deadly weapon. This can further complicate the issue if you were already being charged with assault as you now are being charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

On the other hand, if you just threatened the victim with the dog, there are a few more steps that need to be taken. For example, the prosecution must then prove that your dog was actually capable of injuring or even killing someone else before the court will see them as a deadly weapon.

Some of the things that the courts have used in order to determine whether your dog may be deadly or dangerous include:

The dog’s breed—the type of breed of your dog will make a huge difference. A little fluffy dog probably isn’t dangerous, but a pit bull can make things hard.

The dog’s size—the bigger the dog, the more likely they can cause injury to the other person.

The victim’s size—if the victim is a child, the size of the dog doesn’t have to be quite as big to cause injury so this is considered as well.

If the dog is trained—if the person has trained their dog to attack, they could be charged with using this as a weapon.

Commands the dog was given—if the owner was telling the dog to attack the other person, then the dog is a weapon and will be treated as such in court.

Injuries to victim—even with all the other parts, there needs to be some injuries present. A little scab that didn’t even break the skin isn’t going to be considered as much as some serious flesh wounds.    

Getting Your Defense

If you are being charged with using your dog as a weapon, it is important to find the right criminal defense team to help you out as soon as possible. A good team will be able to come up with the defense you need to get out of trouble and will take some time to look at your dog and see if these factors are in place. Even if the dog is considered a deadly weapon, the right lawyer can make the court process easier and ensures that things go your way. 

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