Virginia Supreme Court upholds right to retrieve law for hunting dogs

Virginia’s right to retrieve law marked yet another victory as the Virginia Supreme Court summarily affirmed the ruling of the Court of Appeals that the plaintiffs in the case procedurally defaulted on their appeal.

Dating to 1938, state law allows hunters to go onto property to retrieve hunting dogs, even if the property owner has denied access. Hunters, however, must not carry a firearm onto another landowner’s property when retrieving hunting dogs.

“This is a huge win for Virginia’s hunting dog community,” Attorney General Jason Miyares said. “Virginia hunters treat their dogs as family, and there are fewer traditions more prized by rural Virginians than our hunting dogs. More than half of hunters in Virginia use hunting dogs, and fewer than 60 out of 6,000 hunting complaints involved trespass violations involving hunting dogs.”

Miyares said the law existed without an incident in the Commonwealth for more than 100 years.

“George Washington himself is credited with being the father of the American foxhound, the original brace being a gift of the Marquis de Lafayette. Virginia’s right to retrieve is a sound reminder that nature, tradition and neighborliness remain qualities we still value as Virginians,” Miyares said.

In January 2024, three hunting dogs were killed in King and Queen County in what was described as a “hate crime against dogs” by local media. In 2019, a hunting dog was brutally killed by a Caroline County couple. More than 24 Virginia localities have passed resolutions in defense of right to retrieve as a rural Virginia tradition.