H. B. 2582
(By Delegates Compton, Hatfield, Houston,
Hunt and Butcher)
[Introduced February 2, 1999; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section nineteen, article eight,
chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to making the
crime of cruelty to animals a felony.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nineteen, article eight, chapter sixty-one of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. CRIMES AGAINST CHASTITY, MORALITY AND DECENCY.
§61-8-19. Cruelty to animals; penalties; exclusions.
(a) If any person cruelly mistreats, abandons or withholds
proper sustenance, including food, water, shelter or medical
treatment necessary to sustain normal health and fitness or to end suffering or abandons any animal to die, or uses, trains or
possesses any domesticated animal for the purpose of seizing,
detaining or maltreating any other domesticated animal, he or she
is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand
dollars, or confined in the county jail not more than six months,
or both so fined and confined.
(b) Any person who intentionally and cruelly maims, wounds,
tortures or kills any animal is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, may be imprisoned in a correctional facility
for not less than one nor more than three years or fined up to
one thousand dollars or both fined and imprisoned. Any person
convicted under this subsection shall submit to a psychiatric
examination designed to detect mental illness and shall be liable
for the costs thereof.
(c) (b) Any person, other than a licensed veterinarian or a
person acting under the direction or with the approval of a
licensed veterinarian, who knowingly and willfully administers or
causes to be administered to any animal participating in any
contest any controlled substance or any other drug for the
purpose of altering or otherwise affecting said animal's performance is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more than
one thousand dollars.
(d) (c) Any person convicted of a violation of this section
shall forfeit his or her interest in any such animal and all
interest in such the animal shall vest in the humane society or
county pound of the county in which said conviction was rendered,
and such the person shall, in addition to any fine imposed, be
liable for any costs incurred or to be incurred by the humane
society or county pound as a result.
(e) (d) For the purpose of this section, the term
"controlled substance" shall have the same meaning ascribed to it
by subsection (d), section one hundred one, article one, chapter
sixty-a of this code.
(f) (e) The provisions of this section do not apply to
lawful acts of hunting, fishing, trapping or animal training or
farm livestock, poultry, gaming fowl or wildlife kept in private
or licensed game farms if kept and maintained according to usual
and accepted standards of livestock, poultry, gaming fowl or
wildlife or game farm production and management, nor to humane
use of animals or activities regulated under and in conformity with the provisions of 7 U.S.C. § 2131 et seq. and the
regulations promulgated thereunder, as both such statutes and
regulations are in effect on the effective date of this section.
(g) (f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of
this section, any person convicted of a second violation of said
subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be confined in
jail for a period of not less than ninety days nor more than one
year, fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one
thousand dollars, or both. The incarceration set forth in this
subsection shall be mandatory unless the provisions of subsection
(g) (h) are complied with.
(h) (g) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, no person who has been convicted of a second or
subsequent violation of the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section may be granted probation until the defendant has
undergone a complete psychiatric or psychological evaluation and
the court has reviewed such evaluation. Unless the defendant is
determined by the court to be indigent, he or she shall be
responsible for the cost of said evaluation.
(i) (h) In addition to any other penalty which can be
imposed for a violation of this section, a court may, as a condition of probation, prohibit any person so convicted from
possessing or owning any animal or type of animal during the
period of probation.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a felony for
torturing, maiming, wounding or killing animals.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.