This site will be continually under construction and changing as the states, counties and municipals continually change their regulations and laws. These are the current regulations for 1996 that we have received to date. If you have other information, please let us know the citations of those laws or regulations, the state and when the changes went or will go into effect by sending e-mail to lawschange@monkeymaddness.com.

On January 10th, 1994 Governor Weld signed a new law which changed the legal status of wolf/dog and wild/domestic cat hybrids. The law serves to prohibit hybrids as pets but it grandfathers all existing pet hybrids in Massachusetts and guarantees that so long as they are maintained responsibly that they can be kept for the rest of their lives.

The legal significance of the new law (M.G.L. 131:77A) was to classify these hybrids, for the purpose of state law, as wildlife rather than as domestic dogs or cats. After April 10th, 1994 it became unlawful to acquire any new hybrids in Massachusetts.

Hybrids that were already in Massachusetts on April 10th, 1994 may be kept for the rest of their lives but must be registered with the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW). They must also be kept in a way that meets the minimum housing and restraint requirements established by the Division and which are outlined below.

Although the Division does not require that registered hybrids be neutered or spayed, they may NOT be bred in Massachusetts. Any young born in Massachusetts to a female hybrid, or whose father is a hybrid, after April 10th, 1994 is an illegal animal.

Any wolf/dog or wild domestic cat hybrid registered in Massachusetts should be provided the very same health care as a domestic dog or domestic cat. The DFW strongly recommends that these animals receive all of the vaccines that would be given to their domestic counterparts, including rabies.

Although dog or cat rabies vaccines probably provide good protection for a wolf/dog or wild/domestic cat hybrid, it is important to understand that no rabies vaccines are actually registered for use in hybrids. Having your pet hybrid vaccinated is still very important since it will likely protect your pet from unknown encounters with rabid raccoons or bats. However, if a pet hybrid bites a person or another pet it has to be treated as if the hybrid were not vaccinated since the vaccines are not legally registered for use in hybrids. For this reason it is particularly important that owners of hybrids take extra precautions that their pets do not bite people or other pets.

The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife will not require the same substantial level of cage construction and security for hybrids that it does for wolves and wild cat species. However, all hybrids must be kept in such a way that they are under the constant control of their owners, They may be kept indoors and/or in outdoor pens or cages from which they do not escape. No hybrid may be allowed to roam free. Wolf/dog hybrids may be kept on an outdoor lead, run or chain but the animal's area of reach must be surrounded by a fence of at least three feet in height to discourage potential access by an unattended child. This perimeter fence may only be omitted if the animal is being restrained more than 100 yards away from the nearest occupied home, regardless of whether children reside in the nearest home or not. Hybrids may be taken out into public for exercise, veterinary care, to travel or for any other reason but must be leashed whenever they are outside the constant supervision of someone at least 18 years of age.

Failure to properly house or restrain a wolf/dog or wild/domestic cat hybrid can be justification for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to revoke a person's authority to keep the animal in Massachusetts.

For More Information - Call the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife at 617-727-3151.

H 5092

AN ACT FURTHER REGULATING CERTAIN WILD CANID HYBRIDS AND WILD FELID HYBRIDS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Section 1. Chapter 131 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 77, as appearing in the 1992 Official Edition, the following section:-

Section 77A. No person shall possess, sell, trade, breed, import, export or release a wild canid hybrid or wild felid hybrid, except as otherwise provided by rules and regulations of the division. Any mammal which is the offspring of the reproduction between any species of wild canid or hybrid wild canid and a domestic dog or hybrid wild canid, or is represented by its owner to be a wolf hybrid, coyote hybrid, coy dog or any other kind of wild canid hybrid, or which is the offspring of the reproduction between any species of wild felid or hybrid wild felid and a domestic cat or hybrid wild felid or is represented by its owner to be a wild felid hybrid. All mammals shall be considered to be wild mammals and subject to the provisions of this chapter.

The provisions of this act shall not apply to an owner or other person possessing any such animal as of January first, nineteen hundred an ninety-four who has received a permit from the director; provided, however, that such permit has been acquired on or before July thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four. Such owner or other person shall be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated by the division. Such rules and regulations may include, but shall not be limited to, provisions for the housing of such animals.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to an owner or person possessing a domesticated show or pet cat registered with a nationally or internationally recognized breeding association or registry which certifies the pedigree and registration of such cats to be without any wild felid parentage for a minimum of three generations.

SECTION 2. Section 90 of said chapter 131, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the tenth paragraph the following paragraph:- Whoever violates any provision of section seventy-seven A shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars.

Signed into law January 10th, 1994.

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