Erie County has no breed-specific dog ban, and neither county nor any municipality within it may adopt one. New York Agriculture & Markets Law Β§107(5) expressly preempts local laws that regulate dogs by breed; any "dangerous dog" determination in Erie County must be made on the individual animal's behavior under Β§123, regardless of pit bull, Rottweiler, or other breed identity.
New York is one of about twenty states that statutorily prohibit breed-specific legislation (BSL). Agriculture & Markets Law Β§107(5) provides: "No municipality of this state shall enact or enforce any local law or ordinance that would apply to or affect any dog in a manner that is specific as to the breed or perceived breed of the dog." Because Erie County is a "municipality" within the meaning of Β§107, neither the County Legislature nor any town, city, or village in Erie County (including Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Amherst, Tonawanda, West Seneca, Lancaster, or Hamburg) may ban or impose extra restrictions on pit bulls, Rottweilers, Doberman pinschers, or any other breed.
What the law does authorize is individualized regulation of dangerous dogs under Β§123. A complaint may be filed in the local town, village, or city court; the judge then holds a hearing and may declare the specific dog "dangerous" if it attacked a person, pet, or domestic animal without justification or behaved in a manner that a reasonable person would believe poses a serious and unjustified imminent threat. Remedies include mandatory confinement, leashing and muzzling in public, microchipping, neutering, liability insurance, and β in cases involving serious physical injury or death β humane euthanasia. The determination must be based on the individual dog's conduct, not its breed (Β§123(2)(c)).
Any Erie County or municipal ordinance attempting to ban a breed would be void and unenforceable under Β§107(5). For individual dangerous-dog cases, Β§123 violations can result in fines from $400 up to $5,000 for unjustified attacks causing serious physical injury, plus restitution and possible misdemeanor or felony charges if the owner knowingly let a previously adjudicated dangerous dog attack again.
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