A dog chasing a bicycle rider is obviously a very dangerous situation. Even if the dog doesn’t bite the rider, the dog can easily cause the rider to crash. Under Leon County’s Animal Control Ordinance, it is illegal for a dog to run at large on a public road. It is also illegal for a dog to be a “public nuisance.” The definition of “public nuisance” includes “any animal which chases vehicles or persons.”
If you are chased by an aggressive dog in Leon County, once you are safe, you should, at minimum, immediately report the incident to Animal Control at 850-606-5400(during business hours) or the Sheriff's Office at 850-922-3300 (after hours). You might consider saving these numbers in your contacts. You should also consider filing a “Petition for Classification of a Dangerous Animal.” The Petition form is available at https://cms.leoncountyfl.gov/Portals/0/DeptFiles/Animal/Docs/DangerousDogPetition.pdf?ver=99.
Under the County Ordinance, the definition of a Dangerous Animal includes any dog that:
“Has chased or approached a person upon the streets, sidewalks, or any public grounds in a menacing fashion, or an apparent attitude of attack,”
or
“Aggressively bitten, attacked, endangered or inflicted severe injury on a human being on public or private property.”
The County Ordinance gives animal control an enhanced level of enforcement authority in situations where a Dangerous Animal Petition has been filed. For example, the dog’s owner can be fined and/or forced to permanently confine the dog. If the owner fails to adequately control a dog classified as dangerous, the dog can be euthanized.
While none us want to see a dog euthanized due to an irresponsible owner, in some cases that may, unfortunately, be the only way to prevent bicycle riders from being seriously injured or killed. In making a decision as to whether to file a Dangerous Animal Petition, you will have to balance these two bad outcomes (euthanatized dogs versus injured bicycle riders) and do what you think is right. But at a minimum, always report the incident by phone as that will result in animal control responding but will not, in the absence of a Dangerous Animal Petition, trigger a Dangerous Animal investigation.
All Dangerous Animal Petitions must be notarized. The animal control staff can notarize the Petition for you. As a practical matter, for most people, the easiest way to file a Dangerous Animal Petition will be to complete the form and hand-deliver it to the Animal Control office at 911 Easterwood Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32311. Do not sign the form in advance, the Animal Control staff will need to personally see you sign the form in order to notarize it.
You may be required to testify at some point. I hope that would not discourage any of our members from filing a Petition if that is what it takes to keep us all safe.
Finally, Leon County animal control has an excellent website with a lot of useful information at https://cms.leoncountyfl.gov/Government/Departments/Public-Safety/Animal-Control. Please keep in mind that everything in this email is specific to unincorporated Leon County. The City of Tallahasse and other jurisdictions may have different procedures.