State Law (Minnesota Statute §§ 347.50-347.565) and Hastings City Code 91.30 regulate both potentially dangerous and dangerous dogs in the City of Hastings.
An officer may declare a dog to be dangerous when the officer has probable cause to believe that the dog has:
- Without provocation, inflicted substantial bodily harm on a human being on public or private property;
- Killed a domestic animal without provocation while off the owner's property; or
- Been found to be potentially dangerous, and after the owner has notice that the dog is potentially dangerous, the dog aggressively bites, attacks or endangers the safety of humans or domestic animals.
An officer may declare a dog to be potentially dangerous when the officer has probable cause to believe that the dog has:
- When unprovoked, inflict bites on a human or domestic animal on public or private property;
- When unprovoked, chases or approaches a person, including a person on a bicycle, upon the streets, sidewalks or any public or private property, other than the dog owner's property, in an apparent attitude of attack; or
- A known propensity, tendency or disposition to attack unprovoked, causing injury or otherwise threatening the safety of humans or domestic animals.