Senate Bill No. 588
(By Senators Unger and Hunter)
____________
[Introduced March 18, 2005; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend 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, §61-8-19a, §61-8-19b and §61-8-20
of said code, all relating to expanding the definition of
"animal cruelty"; instituting stronger penalties for animal
cruelty; providing for an early intervention program for
youths who engage in animal cruelty; and allowing judges to
require that offenders complete an anger management program.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-8-19, §61-8-19a, §61-8-19b and §61-8-20 of the Code
of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and
that said code be amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated §49-5-13f, all to read as follows:
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,
intentionally, knowingly
or recklessly leaves an animal unattended and confined in a motor
vehicle and physical injury to or death of the animal is likely to
result, or drives, rides, or otherwise uses the animal when unfit
for labor, or overdrives, drives when overloaded or overworks such
animal or fights with or baits, harasses or worries any animal for
the purpose of making it perform for amusement, diversion or
exhibition, cruelly chains 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
one two thousand dollars or
confined in
the county or regional jail not more than
six months
one year, or both so fined and confined.
"Cruelly chains" means attaching an animal to a stationary
object or a pulley by means of a chain, rope, tether, leash, cable,
or similar restraint under circumstances that may endanger its
health, safety, or well-being. "Cruelly chains" includes, but is
not limited to, the use of a chain, rope, tether, leash, cable. or
similar restraint that: (1) Exceeds one-eighth the body weight of
the animal; (2) causes the animal to choke; (3) is too short for
the animal to move around or for the animal to urinate or defecate
in a separate area from the area where it must eat, drink, or lie
down; (4) is situated where it can become entangles; (5) does not permit the animal access to food, water, shade, dry ground, or
shelter; or (6) does not permit the animal to escape harm.
(b) If any person intentionally tortures,
maims, mutilates,
wounds or maliciously kills an animal,
intentionally or knowingly
harms, interferes with or kills a working or service animal,
intentionally or knowingly allows any dog that is under the
person's custody or control to interfere with, kill or cause
physical injury to a working or service animal, recklessly allows
any dog that is under the person's custody or control to interfere
with, kill or cause physical injury to a working or service animal,
intentionally or knowingly obtains or exerts unauthorized control
over a working or service animal with the intent to deprive the
service animal handler of the service animal, or causes, procures
or authorizes any other person to torture 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
three five years and be fined not less than one
thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars.
In addition
to the penalties set forth above, any person who is convicted of
any of the provisions involving working or service animals shall be
liable to the owner for the costs of replacing or training the
animal if he or she kills it or renders it unusable as well as any
veterinary costs incurred as a result of such action and to the
owner or agency that owns a working or service animal for the
salary of the handler for the period of time that the handler's
services are lost to the owner's agency. For the purposes of this subsection: "Torture" means an action taken for the primary
purpose of inflicting pain
"including the failure to provide food
and water to a companion animal resulting in a substantial risk of
death or death"; to the definition of torture. "Service animal"
means an animal that has completed a formal training program, that
assists its owner in one or more daily living tasks that are
associated with a productive lifestyle and that is trained to not
pose a danger to the health and safety of the general public;
"working animal" means a dog or horse that is used by a law-
enforcement agency, that is specially trained for law-enforcement
work and that is under the control of a handler; "handler" means a
law-enforcement officer or any other person who has successfully
completed a course of training prescribed by the person's agency or
the service animal owner and who used a specially trained animal
under the direction of the person's agency or the service animal
owner.
(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 one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars
or confined in
jail for not less than ten nor more than sixty days, or both fined
and confined.
(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 said 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" shall have 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
the county or regional 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
two three thousand dollars, or both. The
incarceration set forth in this subsection shall be mandatory
unless the provisions of subsection (h) are complied with.
(h) 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.
(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.
(j) For any person convicted of a violation of this section,
on or after the first day of July, two thousand six, 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.
§61-8-19a. Animal fighting ventures prohibited.
(a) It is unlawful for any person to engage in, be employed at, or sell an admission to any animal fighting venture.
(b) Any person who violates the provisions of this section is
guilty of a
misdemeanor felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be fined not less than one
hundred thousand dollars and not more
than
one five thousand dollars, or
confined in the county jail
imprisoned not
exceeding one year not more than five years, or both
so fined and
confined imprisoned, and
may shall be divested of
ownership and control of such animals, and be liable for all costs
for their care,
and maintenance
or destruction: Provided, That if
the animal is a wild animal, game animal or fur-bearing animal, as
defined in section two, article one, chapter twenty of this code,
or wildlife not indigenous to West Virginia, or of a canine,
feline, porcine, bovine, or equine species whether wild or
domesticated, the person who violates the provisions of this
section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be fined not less than one thousand dollars and not more than
five
ten thousand dollars, and imprisoned in a state correctional
facility for not less than one nor more than five years, or both
fined and imprisoned.
§61-8-19b. Attendance at animal fighting ventures prohibited;
penalty.
(a) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly attend an
animal fighting venture involving animals as provided in
subsections (a) and (b), section nineteen-a, article eight of this
chapter.
(b) Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than
one three hundred dollars and not more than
one
two thousand dollars, or confined in
the county or regional jail
not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
§61-8-20. Keeping or using live birds to be shot at; penalty.
Whoever keeps or uses a live bird to be shot at either for
amusement or as a test of skill in marksmanship, or shoots at a
bird kept or used as aforesaid, or is a party to such shooting, or
lets any building, room, field, or premises, or knowingly permits
the use thereof, for the purpose of such shooting, shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by
a fine of
not more than fifty ten dollars per bird or one hundred
dollars
whichever is greater, or by imprisonment for not more than
one month, or by both. Nothing herein contained shall apply to the
shooting of wild game.
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) Services provided by the Department for Juvenile Services
in the Animal Cruelty Early Intervention Program must 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) If necessary, the Department may petition the circuit
court for a valid court order, as defined in section four, article
one of this chapter, to enforce compliance with a service plan or
to restrain actions that interfere with or defeat a service plan.
(d) The effective date for this section is the first day of
July, two thousand six.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand the definition of
animal cruelty, institute stronger penalties for animal cruelty,
and provide for an early intervention program for youths who engage
in animal cruelty and allowing judges to require that offenders
enter an anger management program.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§49-5-13f is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
