Maine Dangerous Dog Law

What the owner must do at the scene

Since 2019, the owner or keeper of a dog that injures someone badly enough to need medical attention must secure aid for the injured person, including medical help, and report the attack to the local law enforcement agency¹⁸. The owner may leave briefly to contain the dog, but must then give their name, address and contact information to the injured person, someone acting for them, or an officer¹⁸. Leaving without doing so is a Class D crime¹⁸.

The 10-day rabies confinement

Any healthy owned dog that bites a person is confined and observed for 10 days from the bite, whether or not its rabies shots are current¹⁴. The animal control officer issues the notice. The owner keeps the dog at home if it can be kept apart from people and other animals, or boards it at a licensed kennel or veterinary clinic, and pays every cost¹⁴¹⁵. During the 10 days the owner may not sell, give away or euthanize the dog, must let the animal control officer check on it, and must call the officer at once if it escapes¹⁴. At the end, the officer inspects the dog; if the bitten person asks for a veterinary exam, the officer orders one and the owner pays¹⁴. Breaking the quarantine is a civil violation of $100 to $500, and the officer can get a court order moving the dog to a kennel at the owner's expense¹⁶. Confinement is a rabies measure. It is not a finding that the dog is dangerous.

How a dog is declared dangerous or a nuisance

Maine leaves the decision to a court. Within 30 days of the incident, the person attacked or threatened, a witness, someone who knows of an attack on a child, or a person whose property or crops were damaged may make a written complaint to the sheriff, a local police officer or the animal control officer¹². The officer investigates and may issue a civil violation summons; the case is then heard in court¹². The town keeps the investigation records for the life of the dog plus two years¹².

The two classes turn on the harm⁶:

• A dangerous dog killed or seriously injured a person or a domesticated animal that was not trespassing on the owner's premises, or put a reasonable person off the premises in fear of imminent serious injury, or caused any bodily injury after a court had already found it a nuisance dog.
• A nuisance dog caused a lesser injury, caused fear of a lesser injury, or damaged someone else's property or crops while off the owner's premises.

Neither class covers a state-certified police dog, a dog with no prior history that was provoked by a person on the owner's premises, or a dog that hurt someone committing a crime against the owner or the owner's property⁶. "Premises" here means the owner's residence, including its buildings, land and vehicles⁶.

Orders before the hearing

If the dog poses an immediate or continuing threat, the officer must give a written order to muzzle, restrain or confine it, at home or at a place the officer picks, at the owner's expense¹². Each day of noncompliance is a civil violation of $50 to $200¹². When the dog has inflicted serious bodily injury, or the owner has failed to confine a likely dangerous dog, a court or justice of the peace can authorize seizure ex parte. The owner can then ask the District or Superior Court to dissolve or modify the order on 2 days' notice, and the officer who sought it carries the burden of proving the original findings¹².

What the court can order

A finding either way brings a fine of $250 to $5,000 plus costs, none of which can be suspended¹². For a dangerous dog the court may add any of the conditions in the table above, plus spaying or neutering, a behavior evaluation and training classes, and a duty to report any escape¹². A nuisance dog can receive the leash, muzzle, neutering, microchip, insurance, training and escape-notice conditions, but not the enclosure or sign orders¹². A dog can be found a nuisance only once, and after two years of compliance the owner may ask the court to ease the restrictions¹². The court may also require photos of the owner's other dogs and order them confined¹². A declared dog may not be tethered, and a dangerous dog may not be transferred without the court's permission except to an animal control officer or a contract shelter¹⁹.

When a court can order euthanasia

Euthanasia is available only for a dangerous dog, and only if two things are true: the dog killed, maimed or seriously injured a person, or has a prior assault or prior dangerous-dog finding; and it presents a clear threat to public safety¹². If the owner does not comply in the time the court sets, the court can issue a warrant to an officer to have the dog euthanized, and the owner pays the costs of seizure and euthanasia¹². Separately, anyone may lawfully kill a dog when necessary to protect a person or a domesticated animal during a sudden, unprovoked assault²².

If the dog bites again

A nuisance dog that injures anyone again can be found dangerous, which opens the door to the full list of orders⁶¹². An owner who disobeys a court order is held in contempt, commits a Class D crime, and can be barred from owning dogs, permanently if the court chooses¹². An owner previously adjudicated under the section can be banned from keeping any dogs¹². If a dog under an ignored order wounds a person in a sudden assault, the owner owes treble damages¹².

Breed rules

Maine law bars towns from adopting breed-specific ordinances, so no Maine municipality can ban or restrict a dog because of its breed²⁰. The dangerous-dog process looks at what the individual dog did⁶.

Rules for a declared dog in Maine

Maine rules in brief

Reporting. Maine CDC tells people bitten by a dog or cat to wash the wound, call the local animal control officer and see a health care provider¹⁷. The state rabies rules must provide for notifying the animal control officer where a bite occurred¹⁵. The owner or keeper of a dog that injures someone badly enough to need medical attention must secure aid, report the assault to local law enforcement and give their name and address before leaving the scene¹⁸.

Euthanasia. After a hearing, a court may order a dangerous dog euthanized only if the dog killed, maimed or seriously injured a person, or has a prior assault or prior dangerous-dog finding, and presents a clear threat to public safety¹². The owner can ask the court to dissolve or modify an emergency seizure order on 2 days' notice¹².

Criminal penalties. Keeping a dog the court has declared dangerous or a nuisance is a civil violation with a $250 to $5,000 fine¹². Disobeying the court's orders is a Class D crime, punishable by less than one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000, and the court may ban the owner from keeping dogs¹²²³²⁴. Leaving the scene of an attack without securing aid is also a Class D crime¹⁸. If a death results, the general manslaughter statute covers reckless or criminally negligent conduct²¹.

Breed rules. Maine towns may adopt stricter animal-control ordinances but "may not adopt breed-specific ordinances, laws or regulations"²⁰.

Compare states: dangerous dog laws by state, bite quarantine rules, euthanasia after a bite. If your dog bit someone, start with what happens next.

Sources

1. 7 M.R.S. § 3961, Reimbursement for damage done by animals, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
2. Morgan v. Marquis, 2012 ME 106, 50 A.3d 1 (opinion text), Animal Legal & Historical Center, Michigan State University College of Law. Checked 17 October 2026.
3. 14 M.R.S. § 752, Six years, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
4. 14 M.R.S. § 853, Persons under disability may bring action when disability removed, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
5. 14 M.R.S. § 156, Comparative negligence, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
6. 7 M.R.S. § 3907, Definitions (owner, keeper, dangerous dog, nuisance dog), Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
7. LD 661 (120th Legislature, 2001), An Act to Make An Owner Responsible for a Person's Injuries Caused by a Dog, as introduced, Maine Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
8. Fields v. Perry, No. CV-10-361 (Me. Super. Ct., York Cnty.), order granting summary judgment to landlord defendants, University of Maine School of Law, Garbrecht Law Library. Checked 17 October 2026.
9. 14 M.R.S. § 8107, Notice to governmental entity, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
10. 14 M.R.S. § 8110, Limitation of actions (Maine Tort Claims Act), Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
11. 14 M.R.S. § 8105, Limitation on damages (Maine Tort Claims Act), Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
12. 7 M.R.S. § 3952-A, Keeping a dangerous dog or a nuisance dog, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
13. LD 350 (131st Legislature, 2023), An Act to Prevent Dog Breed Discrimination by Insurance Companies: bill status, Maine Legislature. Checked 17 October 2026.
14. 10-144 C.M.R. ch. 251, Rules Governing Rabies Management (effective Sept. 22, 2012), Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Maine CDC. Checked 17 October 2026.
15. 22 M.R.S. § 1313, Procedures for the transportation, quarantine, euthanasia and testing of animals suspected of having rabies, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
16. 22 M.R.S. § 1313-B, Civil violation, court authorization for removal and other remedies, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
17. Rabies, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Checked 17 October 2026.
18. 7 M.R.S. § 3955, Leaving the scene of an assault by a dog that causes an injury that requires medical attention, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
19. 7 M.R.S. § 3954, Prohibitions on dangerous dogs and nuisance dogs, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
20. 7 M.R.S. § 3950, Local regulations, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
21. 17-A M.R.S. § 203, Manslaughter, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
22. 7 M.R.S. § 3951, Killing for assault permitted, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
23. 17-A M.R.S. § 1604, Imprisonment for crimes, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
24. 17-A M.R.S. § 1704, Fines, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.
25. 7 M.R.S. § 3911, Dogs at large, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Checked 17 October 2026.