The very first thing you should say when the law steps in is, “Could I see that in writing or can you give me a citation to that law?”
Not any of the following:
- “Why?”
- “How am I supposed to pay that?”
- “That’s not fair!”
- “It wasn’t my fault!”
- “Yes, but….”
- “Only a couple, Officer, I swear.”
This is also true for rescue groups when an Animal Control facility or officer tells you, “We have to hold them for five days,” or “The five days were up so we released him to rescue.” Most of the times, this is policy rather than actual law, and while that agency may be authorized to establish guidelines and standard practices, it’s not necessarily “law”, as in a statutory provision. So when you’re researching challenging a procedure or practice, start by finding the applicable law that gives that agency the right to establish those procedures.