As used in KRS § 258.095 to KRS § 258.500, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture;
(2) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Agriculture;
(3) “Board” means the Animal Control Advisory Board created by KRS § 258.117; (4) “Dog” means any domestic canine, six (6) months of age or older;
(5) “Owner,” when applied to the proprietorship of a dog, includes: (a) Every person having a right of property in the dog; and
(b) Every person who:
1. Keeps or harbors the dog;
2. Has the dog in his or her care;
3. Permits the dog to remain on or about premises owned and occupied by him or her; or
4. Permits the dog to remain on or about premises leased and occupied by him or her;
(6) “Attack” means a dog’s attempt to bite or successful bite of a human being. This definition shall not apply to a dog’s attack of a person who has illegally entered or is trespassing on the dog owner‘s property in violation of KRS § 511.060, 511.070,
511.080, or 511.090;
(7) “Vicious dog” means any individual dog declared by a court to be a vicious dog;
(8) “Animal control officer” means an individual who is employed or appointed by, or has contracted with:
(a) A city, county, urban-county, charter county, or consolidated local government to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes relating to cruelty, mistreatment, sexual crimes against, or torture of animals, and local animal control ordinances; or
(b) An entity that has contracted with a city, county, urban-county, charter county, or consolidated local government to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes relating to cruelty, mistreatment, sexual crimes against, or torture of animals, and local animal control ordinances;
(9) “Designated license facility” means any person, facility, or business designated by resolution of the governing body of the county to collect license fees under KRS
258.135;
(10) “Cat” means any domestic feline three (3) months of age or older;
(11) “Ferret” means any domestic musteline three (3) months of age or older;
(12) “Euthanasia” means the act of putting an animal to death in a humane manner by methods specified as acceptable for that species by the most recent report of the American Veterinary Medical Association Panel on Euthanasia, subject to the requirements provided by KRS § 258.505;
(13) “Animal shelter” means any facility used to house or contain animals, operated or maintained by a governmental body, incorporated humane society, animal welfare society, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, or other nonprofit organization;
(14) “Quarantine” means the confinement of an animal for observation of clinical signs of illness indicating rabies infection, and the prevention of escape or contact with any person or other animal;
(15) “Livestock” means poultry; ratites; and cervine, bovine, ovine, porcine, caprine, or equine animals that are privately owned and raised in a confined area for breeding stock, food, fiber, or other products; and
(16) “Poultry” means chickens, ducks, turkeys, or other domestic fowl.
Effective: June 27, 2019
History: Amended 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 184, sec. 3, effective June 27, 2019. — Amended
2017 Ky. Acts ch. 30, sec. 1, effective June 29, 2017. — Amended 2004 Ky. Acts ch.
189, sec. 11, effective July 13, 2004. — Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 179, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2000. — Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 440, sec. 1, effective July 15,
1998. — Created 1954 Ky. Acts ch. 119, sec. 12, effective June 17, 1954.