It is illegal for taxi drivers to carry rabid dogs or corpses.
This is part of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, sections 33 and 34: Public Conveyances. An interesting discussion regarding this law (and a few others) can be found here.
A new law (reported in The Guardian newspaper April 2005) in Turin imposes a fine of 500 Euros for dog owners who fail to walk their dogs at least three times a day.
This is for-real, current, and on the books, reported by Reuters.
It is illegal to open an umbrella on a street, for fear of it spooking horses. (Repealed)
I wonder what the punishment might have been for this one? Would it depend on whether you actually succeeded in spooking a horse?
Bear wrestling matches are illegal.
Apparently Greco-Roman displays of masculinity became popular in times gone by, prompting the passage of this law. Section 13A-12-5 Unlawful bear exploitation; penalties. (a) A person commits the offense of unlawful bear exploitation if he or she knowingly does any one of the following: (1) Promotes, engages in, or is employed at a bear wrestling…
It is illegal to ride a horse up the stairs of the county courthouse.
There is an urban legend that Pancho Villa rode his horse up the marble staircase of the Gadsen Hotel in Douglas, Arizona. Maybe the citizens of Prescott were hoping to prevent a repeat of this event?
If you bother the cottontails or bullfrogs, you will be fined.
This law is associated with a city ordinance in Hayden, Arizona.
Hunting camels is prohibited.
In the mid-19th century, the US military once experimented with camels in the Arizona desert, using them to perform the work normally carried out by mules and horses. Camels could do the same work with less need for water, and they could carry twice the load of a mule. Eventually the Army was done with…