FAQ
Reporting a Crime or Violation
Can I report anonymously? Officers are trained to protect the identity of the person who reported the situation, such as by stating only that they “received a report.” However, if the accused is your neighbor, and especially if there is a history of conflict, he is likely to suspect who called. Keep this in mind if you fear retaliation.
Is there a cost involved? No, there is no cost for reporting or for pressing charges.
What should I check for on the Incident Report? When you pick up the Incident Report, ensure that the law enforcement agency has included the accused person’s name, address, and either date or birth or social security number. If any information is missing, insist that it be added. (It is not your responsibility nor are you able, as a private citizen, to access the private information of another person, and the magistrate’s office may not allow you to press charges if information is missing.) Also, if you are reporting cruelty, it can be advantageous for the report to list all applicable charges.
What is the statute of limitations? Cruelty should be reported promptly. The statute of limitations for misdemeanors is one year after the commission of the offense (§ 15-3-2); for felonies, five years (§ 15-3-1). Despite these deadlines, reports about cruelty lose credibility if they are not quickly pursued once evidence to support the report is collected and ready to be used in support of the report.
How can I better understand the state cruelty laws? Alabama’s Jury Instruction sheets outline the conditions that must be met for conviction of the state cruelty laws. By extension, they also suggest how to establish probable cause to charge the accused person with a crime. Jury Instructions can help you determine what to report to law enforcement and to include in your statement.
- § 13A-11-241(b) Cruelty to Dog or Cat — Misdemeanor
- § 13A-11-241(a) Cruelty to Dog or Cat — Felony
- § 13A-11-14 Cruelty to Animals — Misdemeanor
- § 13A-11-14.1 Cruelty to Animals — Felony
For information and FAQs on pressing charges, see Complaints.
Witnessing Cruelty, Abuse, or Neglect
How can I avoid breaking laws while helping an animal? Never enter another person’s property without permission; you may be criminally charged with trespassing. Never take an animal that belongs to another person. Pets are considered property under the law: know your responsibilities when you take in an animal.
What if the animal could die? If you find yourself in an emergency situation where quick action is necessary, call law enforcement authorities immediately and demand help. If you act on your own without the permission of law enforcement authorities, you may be criminally charged even if your actions saved the life of an animal.
How can I bring more attention to a situation? Work together with others. Often a single person cannot change a situation. If you learn about others who share your concerns or who have witnessed the same or similar violations, develop a plan and seek to be heard as a group.
Dog Bites or Attacks
How do I report a dog bite or attack in Alabama? Report to the sheriff’s office and to the Alabama Department of Public Health. (ADPH may ask you to fill out their Bite Report form.) Gather documentation and keep photos and written records; see Evidence for guidance.
How will a bite or attack be investigated? The incident should be investigated according to Emily’s Law (Control of Dangerous Dogs). You can read the statute to know what to expect. The procedure addresses what might happen to the dogs as well as reimbursement of medical expenses.
Ownership
If I feed an animal, does that make me the animal’s owner? Some officials tell citizens that if they feed a stray, the animal is legally theirs. Some ACOs and shelter staff then refuse to intake the animal or treat the intake as an owner surrender. Such claims and practices have no basis in state law. When Alabama law defines ownership (in § 3-6A-3 and § 3-7A-1), the conditions extend beyond the offering of food to a stray.
Trying to help an animal does not mean you own that animal or that you become immediately responsible for harm caused by that animal. After all, it is in the best interest of the state to encourage good samaritans to help lost, stray, or abandoned animals. A community member who brings a lost animal to the shelter for a virtual or physical intake should be viewed as assisting local government in protecting the safety of that animal and the public, for example. The impoundment facility or shelter staff cannot reasonably claim that the community member who is checking in a lost animal is instead surrendering their own pet.
Why are false ideas about ownership so persistent? A Shoals-area ACO stated years ago that if a resident fed an animal for three days, they became the owner. This myth has been repeated in a sort of telephone game, such as in a 2017 Facebook comment by an Alabama ACO which inaccurately advised a resident that “After a dog has been on your property for more than 7 days you become the owner of the animal.”
Assignment of ownership is attractive to local governments because doing so, in their eyes, shifts responsibility and liability to an individual. In other words, the many areas of the state with insufficiently funded and/or poorly operated animal services attempt to scapegoat their area’s compassionate residents for what is actually a government-created public safety issue, animal welfare crisis, and liability. As such, an animal that has been foresaken by the government is recast as having been neglected by his owner.
The question of ownership was pivotal in a Franklin County case involving Brandy Dowdy, who for over a year had fed a group of stray dogs that the county would not help, according to local advocates. When loose dogs in the same area were involved in two fatal maulings in 2022, the county successfully argued that Dowdy was the owner and thus the person responsible for the attacks. Dowdy was found guilty of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and two violations of Emily’s Law. A civil case addressing the responsibility of the local government is pending.
Legal Terms
What is a mental state? Mens rea or “guilty mind” is a legal concept describing the mental state of the person accused of a crime. The four mental states recognized in Alabama law, in order of greatest to least culpability, are intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, and with criminal negligence. The general idea is that a person who intentionally killed an animal, for example, is considered more culpable than if the animal died as a result of the person’s negligence.
What is the difference between a summons and a warrant or citation? See Enforcement: ACO & LEO Authority.
Other Animals
How can I get help with wildlife rehab? For help with an injured or orphaned bird, contact Alabama Wildlife Center. For other animals or locations, see Outdoor Alabama’s list of everyone in the state permitted for wildlife rehabilitation. Another option is Grant Animal Clinic in Marshall County, which partners with Auburn’s raptor center, per Albertville ACO Cooper Hughes on Facebook. “They will take predatory birds and send them off to Auburn if they are good for their program,” Cooper wrote.
What about horses, chickens, livestock? Neglect, abuse, abandonment, and other legal issues are enforced by ACOs and/or the presiding law enforcement agency, whether the police department or sheriff’s office. If an animal is loose, ask your ACO, shelter staff, or a law enforcement officer for help. Most county and municipal shelters in Alabama handle only the minimum required by state law, which is to house dogs, cats, and ferrets. The responsibility for other animals and the expense of caring for them falls to the sheriff’s office, according to Lori Howell, a former Alabama county shelter manager and ACO. Even though sheriff’s offices often receive more funding than any other department, Lori added, some sheriff’s offices try to shirk their responsibility for animals, claiming that they have nowhere to put livestock or do not have the resources.
Are there any shelters or rescues that accept reptiles, chinchillas, and guinea pigs? Ask your local shelter and local rescue organizations, as many do intake small companion animals. A Facebook post by Troy Animal Rescue Project stated that thee organization is one of the few Alabama rescues that intakes ‘exotics.’