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Animal law citations typically involve a violation of a city or county ordinance, such as a requirement that pets be in a crate or on a leash if off your property, or that all cats and dogs be vaccinated against rabies. If you receive such a citation and want to fight it, you typically must appeal the citation within a brief period of time and attend a hearing. While the general process is similar, specific procedures vary among jurisdictions, so check with your local animal control agency to find out exactly what you need to do.
Steps
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Contact the agency that issued the citation. The citation you received will have information for the agency that issued it, including an address and phone number you can use to respond to the citation.
- In larger cities, you also may have the option of responding to the citation online.
- Typically your citation also will include a deadline by which you must respond if you intend to appeal the citation. Mark this deadline on your calendar and make sure you don't miss it or you may lose your ability to appeal.
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Submit supporting documentation. Some agencies have a paper review before you can request a hearing on your citation. If you have documents that prove the citation was issued in error, you must send these to the agency.
- For example, if you were cited for not having your dog vaccinated against rabies, you can send proof of your dog's vaccination to the animal control agency.
- Keep in mind that typically your documents must have a date before the date on the citation. Some jurisdictions may provide a grace period after the issuance of the citation that allows you to fulfill the requirement of the ordinance within a few days or the week after the citation and pay a lower fine.
- You also may send documentation showing that you shouldn't have been cited because you aren't the lawful owner of the animal that is the subject of the violation.
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Request an administrative hearing. Citation appeals typically are heard by a hearings officer at a live hearing. In most jurisdictions, a request for a hearing must be made in writing by the deadline listed on the citation.
- Your city or county's agency may have a form you can fill out to request a hearing, or you may have to send in a letter.
- Make sure the identification number of your citation is included on your request, as well as the name or number of the ordinance you're cited with violating.
- In some cities or counties you may be required to pay a portion of the fines assessed before a hearing will be granted.
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Receive notice of your hearing date. Within a few days after you've submitted your request, you'll get a notice from the agency telling you the date, time, and location of your hearing. If you can't make it, call the agency to reschedule it as soon as possible.
- Your notice also may include information about what to expect at the hearing and the types of evidence you can bring.
- If you're allowed to bring witnesses to the hearing, you may be required to provide their names and contact information in advance of the hearing.
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Gather information. At your appeals hearing, you must present evidence to prove that you shouldn't have been issued the citation. Typically you're allowed to present documents or photos, as well as call witnesses.
- Read the ordinance you've been cited with violating carefully. It may provide information you can use to defeat the citation.
- For example, you may have received a citation for failing to provide your dog with adequate food and water. The ordinance defines what is considered to be adequate.
- If you can prove you provided your dog with the amounts of food and water required by the ordinance, you should be able to defeat the citation.
- Try to provide as much objective evidence as possible, rather than simply relying on your word against the word of the agent or officer who issued the citation.
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Consider consulting an attorney. Most jurisdictions allow you to be represented by an attorney at the appeals hearing. You must pay attorney's fees out of your own pocket – you don't have the right to an appointed attorney if you can't afford one.
- Even if you don't feel the need to hire an attorney to represent you in the hearing itself, you may want to discuss your case with someone who has experience with the animal law in your area.
- In some situations, such as if your dog has been impounded and may be put down, hiring an attorney to represent you can give you peace of mind that you did all you could to save your pet.
- If you want to talk to an attorney, look for someone with experience in animal law cases that practices in the same city or county where you live.
- Your local bar association's website typically will have a searchable directory of licensed attorneys.
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Talk to any witnesses. Typically you can bring witnesses with you to testify on your behalf that the citation was issued in error. If you have witnesses you want to bring, meet with them before the hearing to go over what they will say.
- Witnesses will be much more valuable if the citation is for violation of a behavioral ordinance rather than a status ordinance.
- For example, if you were issued a citation because your dog was barking excessively, testimony from neighbors that your dog's barking hasn't bothered them and that they never viewed it as excessive may be helpful.
- If a witness agrees to testify, discuss the questions you plan to ask them before the hearing, as well as some of the questions you anticipate they may be asked on cross-examination.
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Appear on your hearing date. Your appeal will be dismissed if you don't show up for your hearing. Likewise, you may be eligible to win your appeal if no one shows up to represent the agency that issued the citation.
- If the citation was issued as the result of a complaint from a private individual, typically that individual also must show up on the hearing date or the entire citation will be dismissed.
- Keep in mind that the hearings officer may have multiple hearings scheduled for the same day, so there may be other people waiting. Listening to other hearings before yours can give you an idea of what to expect and how the hearings are handled.
- Typically someone will be there representing the agency that issued the citation. That person will speak first and explain how, when, where, and why the citation was issued to you.
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Present your case. After the agency explains its reasons for issuing the citation, you will have the opportunity to tell the hearings officer why you shouldn't have been issued the citation and introduce evidence or witnesses on your behalf.
- Stick to the facts, and make your statements clear and concise. It can be instinctive to try to appeal to the emotions of the hearings officer, for example by describing how the animal cited is a beloved pet to your young children.
- However, these hearings officers typically have heard it all before and must apply the law – they can't make an exception just because they feel sorry for you.
- Keep in mind that if the hearings officer finds the citation to be valid, you may be assessed additional fines or have to pay for the costs of the administrative hearing.
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Receive the hearings officer's decision. After you've presented your case, the hearings officer typically will issue his or her ruling on the matter. At that time, you'll find out what the next steps will be.
- If the hearings officer rules in your favor, you don't have to pay any fines associated with the citation. If your pet was impounded, you can make arrangements to retrieve it.
- If the hearings officer rules against you, he or she will let you know what the process is to contest the decision.
- In some jurisdictions, if the citation was issued as the result of a complaint from a private individual, that individual has the right to file an appeal if the hearings officer rules in your favor.
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Comply with agency regulations regarding the cited animal. If an animal has been taken from you as the result of an animal law violation and you have lost your administrative appeal, you typically must make arrangements to pay for the continued holding of the animal.
- Some jurisdictions may require you to pay holding fees for each day your pet is held by the city or county.
- You also may be required to pay a portion of the fine charged on your citation before you are allowed to appeal the hearings officer's decision.
- In some situations, an impounded animal may qualify for a conditional release. If your pet is being held, the hearings officer will let you know if this option is available to you.
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File an appeal request with the appropriate court. Administrative decisions may be reviewed by a county civil court or a state appeals court. You must request an appeal in writing before a certain deadline, typically only a few days after the hearing.
- Some jurisdictions may have a form you can fill out to appeal the hearings officer's decision. If not, ask an administrative clerk if you can look at an example of another appeal filed.
- You also may be able to find out information about the format and information required in your appeal request by contacting the clerk of the court that would hear the appeal.
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Consider hiring an attorney. While you may not have felt you needed an attorney for your administrative hearing, a court appeals before a judge involves more complex rules of procedure and evidence.
- Search for an attorney in your area with experience defending pet owners against animal law citations. You may want to interview more than one attorney before you make your final decision.
- Particularly if you're facing an order that your pet be euthanized, it is advisable to hire an attorney to represent your interests and the interests of your pet.
- Keep in mind that in most cases this is your last chance to fight the citation.
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Prepare for your hearing. You will receive a notice of the date, time, and location of your court hearing. If you need to reschedule this hearing, make sure you do so as soon as possible after receiving the notice.
- Typically at this level of appeal you must be able to demonstrate that the hearings officer's decision was an incorrect application of the law.
- If you've hired an attorney, he or she will work with you regarding the evidence you presented at the administrative hearing and how that evidence should have been interpreted.
- If you're representing yourself, talk to the court clerk about what to expect at the hearing. Keep in mind the clerk can answer procedural questions but cannot give you legal advice about your case.
- You may want to observe similar cases before your case is scheduled, if there are any on the docket. It will help you get a good idea of what to expect and the procedures followed in the courtroom.
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Present your case to the court. On the day of your hearing, you will have the opportunity to explain to a county court or appeals court judge why the decision of the hearings officer was wrong and the citation against you should be dismissed.
- If you're representing yourself, remember you shouldn't speak until the judge gives you permission.
- Speak in a loud, clear voice, and make your case in short, concise statements of the facts. Focus on the reasons the hearings officer's decision was incorrect, not the reasons you were hurt or upset by it.
- Typically this is your last chance to appeal. If the judge upholds the decision of the hearings officer, that decision stands.
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