Rules for walking and keeping dogs

All people are different and while someone does not have a soul in dogs, other people's pets openly interfere with others. In some cases, a dog that performs guard or fighting functions can indeed pose a certain threat to others, and many fellow citizens are annoyed when animals walk uncontrollably where it should be clean and tidy.

Recently, Russian lawmakers have been paying close attention to this problem, because the legislative framework is becoming more extensive and detailed, and dog lovers with experience may suddenly be faced with the fact that new rules prohibit what was previously allowed.

In terms of legislation on keeping dogs, Russia is in many ways ahead of a significant part of its neighbors: Russian laws prescribe a framework in which keeping, walking and other aspects of behavior with dogs are allowed. You can be sure of your innocence or punished in accordance with the following applicable documents:

• Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 21, 2006 No. 25 “On approval of the Rules for the use of residential premises”;
• Federal Bill No. 52 “On the Sanitary and Epidemiological Well-Being of the Society” of March 30, 1999;
• The Law on Veterinary Medicine No. 4979-1;
• Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Articles 229, 230, 231, 232;
• Draft Federal Law "On the maintenance of dogs in the Russian Federation."

A vivid example of the latter is the new law on pets in Moscow, adopted in 2018 and entered into force on January 1, 2019. It involves a number of innovations in the form of norms that were previously completely absent or were not considered strictly mandatory. For this reason, you should be guided not only on federal regulations, but also on local regulations, which may turn out to be tougher than the dog lover unprepared for such a turn expects.

The state reserves the right to control numerous aspects of keeping pets, in particular, the purchase and registration of dogs, which are usually referred to as representatives of potentially aggressive breeds. Breeding dogs by the breeding method is also regulated at the legislative level, it involves obtaining permits. By itself, violation of any of the prescribed rules provides for certain sanctions against the violator - accordingly, the document prescribes the relationship between crime and punishment, as well as ways to recover fines.

It’s usually the responsibility of the owner to keep track of so that the pet does not pose a threat to others, behaves adequately in public places, is properly and promptly vaccinated. The owner is obliged to monitor hygiene and follow the rules for transporting a pet in public transport (if he uses the services of one). And not to allow ill-treatment of the ward, and to bury him correctly in case of death.

The legislative framework also includes in its competence issues of behavior with dogs whose owner cannot be determined. Homeless animals are to be caught and then transferred to special nurseries, and the document describes in detail how and on what grounds this procedure is performed, who is its executor and what rules must be observed in the process of fulfilling duties.

In any case, the owner bears full responsibility for the maintenance of his dog, and after all, the owner may pose a certain danger to people around them or their property, cause discomfort or otherwise interfere with others. The logic of the legislators is aimed at the fact that a four-legged friend of a person should not harm anyone.

Simple logic implies that in the private sector, that is, in your own yard, you are a 100% master of the situation and to a lesser extent interfere with others by any of your actions. You can hear from many dog ​​lovers that they would have brought one or another breed of four-legged pet if they lived not in an apartment, but in their own house, and this statement is true not only in terms of abstract convenience, but also according to the letter of the law.

There is no special legislative act that would tell how to properly breed and maintain dogs in their own yard, in Russian law. This does not exempt you from complying with any rules, since the same cruelty to animals is punished equally regardless of the conditions in which you live.

At the same time, there will definitely be less restrictions if your territory is securely fenced and does not give the dog a single chance to leave the home without your permission. Within a closed private territory, you naturally have the right to determine for yourself where and how to walk your pet, keep it on a leash and in a muzzle or completely free and so on.

If in rural areas there are few restrictions on how to properly keep dogs, then in an apartment building you will inevitably be limited much tougher. The reasons for this bias are quite obvious: in multi-storey buildings, neighbors are much closer to you than in a village, noise and unpleasant smells reach them much more, and a significant part of the internal space is common areas, which, in addition to you, are used by other residents .

In general, getting acquainted with the law is worth at least for general development, since many important points are spelled out there. We will highlight only the most basic points, which are often unreasonably violated and become the cause of big problems.

• Your four-legged pet can live only in the territory of your own apartment, his constant stay elsewhere is unacceptable. No argument that you have the right that the puppy has grown up and no longer fits in the apartment, etc., does not allow the owner to keep the dog in the common corridor, on the landing and in the staircase, as the animal can interfere with other inhabitants of the house and present danger to casual passers-by.
• The owner must ensure that the dog fulfills its needs only in those places where it will not interfere with other people. In Moscow, for example, they have already begun to build specially fenced areas intended for walking, they even install special boxes for collecting dog waste, which means that it is no longer possible to walk animals either in the nearest yard or in any other.
• Soundproofing most modern apartment buildings still very low, so barking your dog can interfere with the normal functioning of the neighbors. In terms of time, the law restricts animal noise not too harshly - they are forbidden to make noise only from 21.00 to 6.00 the next day. However, you will not be able to refer to the fact that you do not control the pet: the state does not care how you will achieve compliance, which means that you yourself need to think through the dressing up.
• Even if you decide to take a walk with a four-legged friend just like that, without potential environmental pollution, you must avoid visiting crowded places. The behavior of an animal can be difficult to control, especially if it is not sufficiently trained, therefore you should avoid locations where there are always a lot of vacationers or just passers-by.
• No matter what breed your dog is, you must walk her on a leash and in a muzzleto prevent conflicts with people or other dogs. This is done so that you do not have problems: even if your dog is small and obviously can not do much harm to a passerby, he, frightened by a sudden attack, has the right to demand compensation. In addition, all walking dogs must be equipped with special tokens, which indicate the owner’s contact information: this allows you to return lost pets to the house and look for irresponsible owners if the dog causes trouble.
• The person walking the animal bears direct responsibility for it. and is obliged to control the behavior of his four-legged friend.

The law does not explicitly spell it out, but sound logic suggests that any remarks of neighbors related to the maintenance of your pet should be treated with maximum understanding and willingness to compromise. At heart you can consider the attacks unfair, but it is possible that your neighbors are principled and in response to your categoricalness will find a way to legally punish an intractable dog lover.

Among other things Some dog breeds are identified as potentially dangerous and aggressive. The law does not prohibit the maintenance of those in the apartment, but you must understand that they are included in the list for a reason: if your dog was taken out specifically for hunting or fighting tasks, he may misunderstand this or that situation. At the same time, his physical data allows the animal to cause serious harm to any enemy, no matter who it is.

The following breeds are among the dogs that pose a potential threat to others.

• Fighting dogs: some types of terriers, mastiffs and alabay, bulldogs and Caucasian shepherds. All these animals were bred specifically for battles, aggression and a willingness to engage in a fight in their blood literally. Behind such a dog you need an eye and an eye, and even regular training and professional education do not give an absolute guarantee that a dog will never attack a person in any situation without the permission of the owner.
• Hunting dogs: many types of terriers, huskies, retrievers and so on. Such a pet is relatively relatively unlikely to attack a person, but at the level of instincts he is used to attack small animals, subconsciously considering it his prey. It’s easy to guess what the reaction of the other dog lover will be if your dog attacks his pet, and your beast is focused on achieving the maximum result, that is, killing. In addition, four-legged hunters are very fond of an active way of life and require significant physical exertion, and therefore it will be difficult for them in the apartment, and they can make a lot of noise.
• Watch dogs: Dobermans and Rottweilers, Bullmastiffs, German and Asian Shepherds. Such an animal has served throughout its life, even if you do not expect anything like it from it. In such a pet, animal instincts are hypertrophied: they clearly understand the line between their own and another's (doing it their own way!) And are ready until the last to defend what they, in their opinion, have the right to. Being squeezed in a cramped space, such pets can suddenly exceed their authority, preventing even the owners from deciding which part of the apartment belongs to whom, and it will be very difficult to cope with such a masterful and strong opponent.
• Shepherd dogs - Most types of shepherd dogs and some similar breeds. This group of dogs is very similar in characteristics to the watchdogs described above: the animal knows that he is ordered to guard certain property, and in his understanding, the performance of this task means a banal prevention of any outsiders. Among the strangers are predictably any guests, neighbors, even if the meeting took place in the entrance, which is "outside the jurisdiction", and sometimes the owners themselves.

At the moment, the issue of legislative regulation of dog walking is in an unclear state, as part of the standards has already been adopted and put into effect, and the other part will be relevant only in 2020. In particular, the law nevertheless allows that many small breeds of dogs will not need a muzzle, but a concrete list of breeds that cannot be left without a leash and a muzzle does not exist.

Among other things, the federal legislator also delegates part of the authority to regulate this issue to local authorities, so should be guided not only by all-Russian, but also by regional norms.

If we talk about general provisions, the situation is as follows.

• Walking an animal cannot contradict the principles of universal security. This means that the dogs themselves, the people around them and other animals must be safe.
• The owner is obliged to monitor the integrity and safety of not only living creatures, but also property, owned by legal entities and individuals.The animal should not in any way come into contact with it, and even more so - damage the property of others.
• A walking animal can only be walked under the direct supervision of the owner or person in charge. Self-fermentation of the dog in the streets is not allowed.
• A number of territories involve the movement of dogs of any breed only on a leash and this is mandatory. Such places include any common areas, including common areas in multi-storey buildings, a similar requirement is put forward when crossing the roadway with a dog.
• The owner is obliged to maintain order and cleanliness in the streets, therefore, it is his responsibility to clean up pet waste. After a four-legged friend, it’s necessary to clean even in the territory specially allocated for dog walking, and if there is no infrastructure for dog lovers on the walking route, you will have to carry a special package with you in such a case.
• If local authorities, as happened in Moscow, have allocated special zones for walking pets, pet walking in any other place is prohibited.
• After the list of potentially aggressive and dangerous dogs is finally approved in 2020, walking of representatives of breeds included there will be allowed only if there is a leash and a muzzle.

The last point is of most interest to the dog lovers, because the fact of a change in the rules in the near future is no longer in doubt, but so far it is completely unclear who it will affect. At the moment, there is only a draft resolution prepared by the government, and so far it immediately includes 69 names of breeds and their derivatives.

As we already understood, a dog cannot be walked in the city wherever: it’s not suitable for any house adjoining territory, or a playground, or any other public places. The administrations of the largest cities are trying to equip special areas for this, but even if there aren’t any in your region, there are certain requirements for walking areas that increase the safety of others and can give the animal the physical load it needs.

Primarily, the space should be large enough, at least 400 square meters - only there the dog can run freely. The edges of the perimeter should be significantly removed from the main infrastructure objects: so, residential buildings and any public buildings should be located no closer than 25 meters from the edge of the site, and for hospitals, playgrounds and kindergartens, as well as schools, the distance should be even greater - at least 40 meters. Even if dog lovers are responsible for their duties and remove animal waste on the street, the cover of the walking area in the form of sand or grass should change at least once a year.

Since the above described, and even fenced territory now exists far from everywhere, Pets are allowed to walk in any park, but only if there is a muzzle and a leash. Moreover, the administration of each park has the right to put forward its own requirements, so this issue should be clarified on the spot.

In general, the rules of walking in parks are as follows. First of all, the park is a territory for people, because the leash should be short, the dog does not have the right to run freely throughout the territory and disturb others.The exception is usually made only for babies under the age of three months, but even then a lot can depend on your ability to prove that the dog is not older. Even in the park you are obliged to observe silence at night, however, the time frame here is different - not from 21 to 6, like in an apartment, but from 23 to 7.

Delivery of the animal to places of walking or its transportation for any other purpose may involve the use of public transport. With small pets (weighing up to 5 kilograms), placed in a special cage, the easiest way is that they can be considered as cargo and are transported for free. A large animal may require payment for a separate place (with growth above 40 cm - two places), and it must be in the muzzle and on a short leash.

The carrier has the right to require the owner of the four-legged passenger to present documents, including a veterinary certificate of timely vaccination and a document on the condition of the dog.

Government agencies are often not too picky about violations in the area of ​​dog walking, but this does not mean that you will never be specifically sanctioned, which can be an unpleasant surprise. For example, many owners do not even suspect that There is a list of places where walking pets is strictly prohibited. This infrastructure includes beaches and playgrounds, cemeteries and venues for public events, the territory of educational and medical institutions. The penalty for such an offense may range from 1-2 thousand rubles.

Separate punishment can be obtained for walking a pet without a muzzle and a leash. The fine here depends not only on the region (prices fluctuate with respect to all offenses, being relatively tied to the average income level by region), but also on the place in which you allow yourself such liberties. For example, travel without special means in public transport will cost from 500 to 1000 rubles, and the stay of the dog in the same form in a store or public place can result in 1-2 thousand rubles.

Your apartment is considered a personal territory, and you are not obliged to coordinate your decision about a dog with neighborshowever this rule irrelevant for dormitories and communal apartments.

Situations related to violence are punished even more severely. For instance, conducting dog fights is regarded as cruel treatment of animals, but the sanction for such an offense is still relatively modest - only 2.5 thousand rubles. Whether it’s the case, if the owner has the mind to set the dog on a person - even without any significant injuries, the potential victim has the right to demand the payment of a fine of up to 5 thousand rubles. If everything went too far and the person suffered from your dog (it doesn’t matter, on your orders or due to oversight), a monetary penalty can not do without it: when seriously injuring the owner or any other responsible person, even criminal liability can be expected.

That is why walking dogs of large breeds is forbidden to persons who, for certain reasons, cannot completely control the ward or be responsible for it. Children under the age of 14, who have drunk or are insane for any other reason, cannot walk their pets, and the perpetrator who committed such a violation even without any consequences may be administratively punished.

You can sincerely love dogs, but even then you are unlikely to agree that a dog that constantly barks with its neighbors, regardless of the time of day or the norms of behavior, is normal. The law prescribes what to do in this situation to solve the problem.

Humanly, you need to start with a conversation with the owners of a raging dog. It is possible that they themselves are not bad people, they don’t know about the indecent behavior of their pet, because it barks in their absence, and at your first request they will take steps so that the misunderstanding does not recur. This is the fastest and most correct way to solve the problem, but here Complaints to regulatory authorities should be written only if your attempt to resolve the issue peacefully was unsuccessful.

The first instance for those who have not obtained justice from a neighbor is local police officer who will also start with a preventive conversation, and only in the absence of a result will he impose a fine on the offender.

For more information on dog walking and keeping rules, see the next video.