"A dog while in publicly permitted areas shall be on a leash of no more than 8 feet in length, and under control of its owner or handler."

For the most part, America is not the rural setting it once was; its wide-open spaces that allowed dogs to roam free are no longer available. Florida has become congested with people; therefore, restrictions were created by the Government on where and how a dog can walk and run.

Among the many reasons why these "Leash Laws" were created was to avoid:

1. Dog bites
2. The spread of rabies
3. Dogs being hit by motor vehicles
4. Dog poop
5. Dog overpopulation

Besides the dog bite cases that have occurred because of dogs running at large, there have been less obvious lawsuits deriving from "dogs running at large" violations. For instance, a driver is injured while avoiding a loose dog, because he had hit another car or some other hard object. That driver can now bring a lawsuit against the owner of that dog.

While some ordinances or codes specifically mention or require a leash on a dog when the dog is in publicly permitted areas, such as the ordinance described earlier in this article, there are other municipal ordinances that make no mention of utilizing a leash, but simply state that the handler shall keep the dog under control. There are other ordinances, while mentioning "leash," mention "leash" in the disjunctive descriptive form such as, "The owner shall keep the dog on a leash, chain or some other device to control the dog."

As the American urban setting has grown, American technology has also improved.

More and more dogs are being controlled by electronic collars. This is a remote control device that allows the dog to walk or run without a leash, but is under control of the handler, because he or she can give the dog a gentle electric zap to harness the dog, if he should stray. This electronic collar should be used in conjunction with good obedience instruction as you should also do with a conventional collar and leash.

Think of a situation in which a single woman, who has a large athletic dog for protection and companionship. If this woman should walk this large athletic dog on the conventional collar and leash, and was unable to control the dog, she could be in violation of the "old leash law," since the spirit of the law is to keep the dog under control. If this same woman should use the electronic collar to keep the dog under control, she would be in violation of the "old leash law" for not using a leash. This is a dilemma because each attempt to be in compliance with the law would be a violation of the law.

If you readers have the "old leash law" on the books in your community, you should contact your local legislators to have these ordinances amended so that the dilemma described above won't occur.

- Steven M. Logan, born in Rochester, N.Y. 1957, B.S. New Hampshire College 1979, J.D. California Western School of Law 1983. Former Prosecutor in Broward County, Florida. Private Practice emphasizing Criminal Defense (except animal abuse), also practicing Family Law, Pet Law and Animal Rights, and other civil matters. He can be reached at (954)-522-3902, e-mail ZDPR15A@Prodigy.com