By Allen Holt

Every state has many laws. And inside of each state there are many municipalities that also have many laws that strictly pertain to that area.
Sometimes however it seems these laws are perhaps confusing but also many times they seem to be downright ridiculous.

In the city of Atlanta it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or to a street lamp. Not sure how many times this one has been enforced but there doesn’t seem to be a bunch of giraffes tied around down there.

Right up the road in Cobb County it is against the law to have stink bombs within the city limits. Also picnics are prohibited in graveyards.

In Kennesaw (located in Cobb County) every head of a household must own a gun! And nearby Marietta has a law making it illegal to spit from a car or from a bus. However it is perfectly legal to spit from a truck! (other areas also have strange spitting laws such as St Mary’s, Georgia where it is illegal to spit on the sidewalk after dark)!

At one time Nickajack Elementary School prohibited all peanut products including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. If they could keep the kids from eating these items perhaps it would also be helpful in keeping them from spitting from moving vehicles.

Many of the strange laws seem to be in some way connected to animals.
Beside the law pertaining to giraffes mentioned above, in the City of Conyers it is illegal to place a dead bird on a neighbor’s lawn. Also it is illegal to carry a chicken by its feet down Broadway on Sunday. Donkeys are not allowed to be kept in bathtubs which make sense I guess. In case you wondered goldfish are not permitted to be used as an enticement for playing a game of bingo.

Georgia is not the only state with some strange laws pertaining to animals. As an example it is illegal to walk a cow down Lake Road in Bay Village, Ohio. Also in nearby Canton if your pet tiger somehow gets lost you must report it to the local authorities within one hour.

And in Cleveland, Ohio it is illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.

Up until 2000 anyone in Michigan could receive a bounty for each rat that was caught (started back in 1915 at five cents but was increased to ten cents). However in 2000 that law was repealed and partially due to complaints from Township Clerks who had to dispose of the dead rats by burning them! Not what the Clerks felt was really part of their jobs.

For some reason 2015 seemed to be the year for repealing some old and strange laws in the state of Michigan. Up until that year “The Star-Spangled Banner” was not allowed to be performed in any public place unless it was played in its entirety. And the law at that time also stated that the song could not be played for “dancing”.

Some of these laws may be repealed by the time you read this article but never fear……..our legislators will dream up some more weird ones to keep us on our toes and LEGAL!!!!

Allen Hott is a part time freelance writer, part time management consultant, and full time (?) retired. Allen is also a reviewer for Bestsellersworld.com, Mysteriesgalore.com and Get-Read.com.