Senate Bill No. 164
(By Senator Barnes)
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[Introduced January 10, 2008; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §7-10-4 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the custody and care of
abandoned, neglected or cruelly treated animals, including
domestic and feral cats, by county humane officers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §7-10-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. HUMANE OFFICERS.
§7-10-4
.
Custody and care of animals abandoned, neglected or
cruelly treated; hearing; bonds; liability for costs;
liens; exclusions.
(a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (h) of this
section, a humane officer shall take possession of any animal,
including
domestic and feral cats, birds or wildlife in captivity,
known or believed to be abandoned, neglected, deprived of necessary
sustenance, shelter, medical care or reasonable protection from
fatal freezing or heat exhaustion, or cruelly treated or used, as defined in sections nineteen and nineteen-a, article eight, chapter
sixty-one of this code.
(b) The owner or persons in possession, if his or her identity
and residence is known, of any animal seized pursuant to subsection
(a) of this section shall be provided written notice of the
seizure, his or her liability for the cost and care of the animal
seized as provided in this section and the right to request a
hearing before a magistrate in the county where the animal was
seized. The magistrate court shall schedule any hearing requested
within ten working days of the receipt of the request. The failure
of an owner or person in possession to request a hearing within
five working days of the seizure is prima facie evidence of the
abandonment of the animal. At the hearing, if requested, the
magistrate shall determine if probable cause exists to believe that
the animal was abandoned, neglected or deprived of necessary
sustenance, shelter, medical care or reasonable protection from
fatal freezing or heat exhaustion, or otherwise treated or used
cruelly as set forth in this section.
(c)(1) Upon finding of probable cause, or if no hearing is
requested and the magistrate finds probable cause based upon the
affidavit of the humane officer, the magistrate shall enter an
order awarding custody of the animal to any humane officer for
further disposition in accordance with reasonable practices for the
humane treatment of animals. The owner of the animal shall post a
bond with the court in an amount sufficient to provide for the
reasonable costs of care, medical treatment and provisions for the animal for at least thirty days. The bond shall be filed with the
court within five days following the court's finding of probable
cause. At the end of the time for which expenses are covered by
the original bond if the animal remains in the care of the humane
officer and the owner desires to prevent disposition of the animal
by the humane officer, the owner shall post an additional bond with
the court within five days of the expiration of the original bond.
During this period the humane officer is authorized to place the
animal in a safe private home or other safe private setting in lieu
of retaining the animal in an animal shelter. The person whose
animal is seized is liable for all costs of the care of the seized
animal.
(2) If a bond has been posted in accordance with subdivision
(1) of this subsection, the custodial animal care agency may draw
from the bond the actual reasonable costs incurred by the agency in
providing care, medical treatment and provisions to the impounded
animal from the date of the initial impoundment to the date of the
final disposition of the animal.
(d) Any person whose animal is seized and against whom a
finding of probable cause is rendered pursuant to this section is
liable during any period it remains in the possession of the humane
officer for the reasonable costs of care, medical treatment and
provisions for the animal not covered by the posting of the bond as
provided in subdivision (1), subsection (c) of this section. The
magistrate shall require the person liable for these costs to post
bond to provide for the maintenance of the seized animal. This expense, if any, becomes a lien on the animal and must be
discharged before the animal is released to the owner following the
acquittal of the owner or withdrawal of the complaint. Upon
acquittal, or withdrawal of the complaint, any unused portion of
posted bonds shall be returned to the owner. Upon a criminal
conviction, all interest in the impounded animal shall transfer to
the humane officer for the further disposition in accordance with
reasonable practices for the humane treatment of animals. Any
additional expense above the value of the animal may be recovered
by the humane officer or custodial agency.
(e) If, after the humane officer takes possession of the
animal pursuant to the finding of probable cause a licensed
veterinarian determines that the animal should be humanely
destroyed to end its suffering, the veterinarian may order the
animal to be humanely destroyed and neither the humane officer,
animal euthanasia technician, nor the veterinarian is subject to
any civil or criminal liability as a result of such action.
(f) The term "humanely destroyed" as used in this section
means:
(1) Humane euthanasia of an animal by hypodermic injection by
a licensed veterinarian or by an animal euthanasia technician
certified in accordance with the provisions of article ten-a,
chapter thirty of this code; or
(2) Any other humane euthanasia procedure approved by the
American Veterinary Medical Association, the Humane Society of the
United States or the American Humane Association.
(g) In case of an emergency in which an animal cannot be
humanely destroyed in an expeditious manner, an animal may be
destroyed by shooting if:
(1) The shooting is performed by someone trained in the use of
firearms with a weapon and ammunition of suitable caliber and other
characteristics designed to produce instantaneous death by a single
shot; and
(2) Maximum precaution is taken to minimize the animal's
suffering and to protect other persons and animals.
(h) The provisions of this section do not apply to farm
livestock, as defined in subsection (d), section two, article
ten-b, chapter nineteen of this code, 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, wildlife or game farm production and
management, nor to the 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to empower county humane
officers to pick up domestic and feral cats that are abandoned or
otherwise in need of rescue thus alleviating the burden from
private individuals presently taking on this responsibility.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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