A Dog The County Calls Dangerous
G.L. c. 140, § 157 — a written complaint, a public hearing, and never a dangerous finding based on breed
The complaint and the hearing. Any person may file a written complaint with the hearing authority that a dog is a nuisance dog or a dangerous dog. The hearing authority investigates, including examining the complainant under oath at a public hearing, and on the credible evidence dismisses the complaint, deems the dog a nuisance dog, or deems it a dangerous dog.
- Solely on growling or barking.
- On the breed of the dog.
- Where the dog's reaction was not grossly disproportionate to protecting itself, its offspring, another animal or a person from attack.
- Where the person was committing a crime against the owner or the owner's property.
- Where the person was teasing, tormenting, battering, assaulting or otherwise provoking the dog.
- Where the person or animal had breached an enclosure the dog was kept in apart from the public, without authorization.
Those are the grounds on which no dog is deemed dangerous. A person under the age of 7 is rebuttably presumed not to have been committing a crime, provoking the dog or trespassing.
What the order may say. If a dog is deemed dangerous, the hearing authority orders one or more remedies, such as humane restraint or confinement to the keeper's premises, but no order may provide that a dog deemed dangerous be chained, tethered or tied to an inanimate object.
Cities and counties often add their own dangerous dog rules on top of these, and those are not on this page. What a particular designation means for a particular dog is a question for a licensed Massachusetts attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- G.L. c. 140, § 157 — Nuisance or dangerous dogs; orders for remedial action; appeal; violation of order
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Massachusetts attorney.