ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 588
(Senators Unger and Hunter, original sponsors)
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[Passed April 9, 2005; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §49-5-
13f; and to amend and reenact §61-8-19 of said code, all
relating to Animal Cruelty Early Intervention Program for
juveniles; expanding the definition of cruelty to animals;
increased criminal penalties for cruelty to animals; and
allowing judges to require that offenders complete an anger
management program.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §49-5-13f; and that
§61-8-19 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 49. CHILD WELFARE.
ARTICLE 5. JUVENILE PROCEEDINGS.
§49-5-13f. Animal Cruelty Early Intervention Program.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the
contrary, a juvenile who has been alleged to have committed an act
of delinquency which involved causing harm to an animal shall be
given the option of proceeding in the Animal Cruelty Early
Intervention Program as an alternative to the filing of a formal
petition under section seven of this article, as the case may be.
The decision to extend the option to enter the Animal Cruelty Early
Intervention Program shall be made by the circuit court if the
court finds that the offender is a suitable candidate for the
program. No juvenile may enter the Animal Cruelty Early
Intervention Program unless he or she and his or her parent or
guardian consent. Any juvenile who does not successfully cooperate
in and complete the Animal Cruelty Early Intervention Program shall
be returned to the circuit court for further disposition as
provided by section eleven-a or thirteen of this article, as the
case may be.
(b)
The Department of Juvenile Services shall establish a task
force to create an Animal Cruelty Early Intervention Program
.
Services provided by the Department for Juvenile Services in the
Animal Cruelty Early Intervention Program shall be consistent with
the provisions of article five-b of this chapter and shall be
designed to develop skills and supports within families and to
resolve problems related to the juveniles who have engaged in animal cruelty. Services may include, but are not limited to,
referral of juveniles and parents, guardians or custodians and
other family members to services for psychiatric or other medical
care, or psychological, welfare, legal, educational or other social
services, as appropriate to the needs of the juvenile and his or
her family.
(c) The effective date for this section is the first day of
July, two thousand six.
CHAPTER 61. CRIMES AND THEIR PUNISHMENT.
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 intentionally,
knowingly or recklessly leaves an animal unattended and confined in
a motor vehicle when physical injury to or death of the animal is
likely to result, or rides an animal when it is physically unfit,
or baits or harasses any animal for the purpose of making it
perform for a person's amusement, or cruelly chains any animal 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 three hundred nor more than two thousand dollars or confined in jail not more than six months, or
both.
(b) If any person intentionally tortures, or mutilates or
maliciously kills an animal, or causes, procures or authorizes any
other person to torture, mutilate or maliciously kill an animal, he
or she is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
confined in a correctional facility not less than one nor more than
five years and be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more
than five thousand dollars. For the purposes of this subsection,
"torture" means an action taken for the primary purpose of
inflicting pain.
(c) 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 five hundred nor more than two thousand dollars.
(d) Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall
forfeit his or her interest in any animal and all interest in the
animal shall vest in the humane society or county pound of the
county in which the conviction was rendered and 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) For the purpose of this section, the term "controlled
substance" has the same meaning ascribed to it by subsection (d),
section one hundred one, article one, chapter sixty-a of this code.
(f) 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 statutes and regulations are in effect on the
effective date of this section.
(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, any person convicted of a second or subsequent 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 three
thousand dollars, or both. The incarceration set forth in this
subsection shall be mandatory unless the provisions of subsection
(h) of this section are complied with.
(h) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, no person who has been convicted of a violation of the
provisions of subsection (a) or (b) of this section may be granted
probation until the defendant has undergone a complete psychiatric
or psychological evaluation and the court has reviewed the
evaluation. Unless the defendant is determined by the court to be
indigent, he or she shall be responsible for the cost of said
evaluation.
(2) For any person convicted of a violation of subsection (a)
or (b) of this section, the court may, in addition to the penalties
provided in this section, impose a requirement that he or she
complete a program of anger management intervention for
perpetrators of animal cruelty. Unless the defendant is determined
by the court to be indigent, he or she shall be responsible for the
cost of the program.
(i) In addition to any other penalty which can be imposed for
a violation of this section, a court shall prohibit any person so
convicted from possessing, owning or residing with any animal or
type of animal for a period of five years following entry of a
misdemeanor conviction and fifteen years following entry of a
felony conviction. A violation under this subsection is a
misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars
and forfeiture of the animal.
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