Is it illegal to kill an animal when your not hunting in the state of maryland?

It is illegal to ';cruelly kill'; an animal, but otherwise, there are no limits on killing animals.





Edit:


I assumed that we were talking about killing a domesticated animal here, as killing a wild animal (aside from in defense) is per se hunting, which is out of the limits of this question, but Morgan is correct that Maryland has a variety of limits on killing wild animals.Is it illegal to kill an animal when your not hunting in the state of maryland?
If it is a regulated animal such as geese, ducks, deer etc..., it is illegal to wilfully kill an animal out of season or kill one without a license during hunting season.


If it is an accident or on unregulated species, then there are not any laws except as previously stated ';cruelly dispatched';. If it is a mercy killing close to a roadway or dangerous game, state police should be called to dispatch the animal humanely as possible.Is it illegal to kill an animal when your not hunting in the state of maryland?
With all due respect to ';james';; I think that statute is answering how you are legally able to kill both to domestic and wild animals. I would think (without doing any substantive research) that Maryland, like ALL other states I am familiar with prohibits the killing of all wild animals unless the killing is in compliance with the hunting and conservation statutes. If you were referring to a wild animal, you would need to check the hunting trapping etc laws of that state.


I would wager that if you purposely kill a wild animal outside of the regulations, that it would have to be in defense of human life or your property (your dogs, poultry, etc.)


Further, the one statute cited has to be taken in context of other statutes protecting the property of others, etc. as that statute only covers HOW you are legally able to kill the animals, not whether you have the legal right to do so.





I read your update. I am appalled, but nonetheless, all songbirds are FEDERALLY protected. They are not to be puposely killed for any reason, nor can you harass or destroy nests, or even posess a dropped feather. The penalties are stiff up to five years in a federal prison and a $5000.00 fine. The exceptions are european starlings and a certain variety of sparrow ( i think) . According to the posted statute, you killed the little helpless thing in a cruel manner, causing undue suffering. I sincerely hope this has bothered you, and you have tried to make amends by feeding birds and other wldlife, and making extra effort to protect what belongs to all of us.
Accidental road kill is not a chargeable crime, nor is the killing of a threatening predatory animal.