{"data":{"id":"us-nm/77-1a-6","jurisdiction":"us-nm","citation":"77-1A-6","heading":"Prohibited acts; penalties.","body":"A. It is unlawful for an owner of a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog to:\n(1) keep the dog without a valid certificate of registration;\n(2) violate the registration and handling requirements for the dog;\n(3) fail to notify the animal control authority immediately upon:\n(a) the escape of the dog; or\n(b) an attack by the dog upon a human being or a domestic animal;\n(4) fail to notify the animal control authority of the dog's death within five business days;\n(5) fail to notify the animal control authority within twenty-four hours if the dog has been sold or given away and provide the name, address and telephone number of the new owner of the dog;\n(6) fail to surrender the dog to an animal control authority for safe confinement pending a determination of the case when there is reason to believe that the dog poses an imminent threat to public safety; or\n(7) fail to comply with special handling or care requirements for the dog that a court has ordered.\nB. Whoever violates a provision of Subsection A of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978 and, for a second or subsequent offense, is guilty of a fourth degree felony and shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.\nC. An owner of a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog that causes serious injury or death to a domestic animal, without provocation, is guilty of a fourth degree felony and shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.\nD. An owner of a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog that causes serious injury to a human being, without provocation, is guilty of a third degree felony and shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.\nE. An owner of a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog that causes the death of a human being, without provocation, is guilty of a third degree felony resulting in the death of a human being and shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.\nF. Prosecution pursuant to this section requires a showing that:\n(1) an owner knew of the propensity of a dog to inflict serious injury; or\n(2) the dog had previously been found by a court to be a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog.","path":["Chapter 77 - Animals and Livestock","ARTICLE 1A Dangerous Dog"],"source_url":"https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18580/index.do","current_through":"2026-07-01","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-03T15:02:20Z","sha256":"12fc49a5768f624707f795635f3d609be3b5750b9286b4ccc189d4f3aba36ba6","source_id":"us-nm","stale":false,"prev":"us-nm/77-1a-5","next":"us-nm/77-1b-1"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}