GroundRules
← Search the law
Kentucky · Snapshot 09/05/2026

KRS 258.095: Definitions for KRS 258.095 to 258.500.

Read at publisher ↗
Where this section sits in the code
  1. KRS Chapter 258

As used in KRS 258.095 to 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 spec ies 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 go vernmental 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 indic ating 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.

Collected 2026-09-05T20:53:07Z. Source file · JSON

Browse this collection